Postmedia Network Canada A (PNCa) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Printing & Publishing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Postmedia Network Canada A (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Postmedia Network Canada A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Postmedia Network Canada A
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Postmedia Network Canada A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Postmedia Network Canada A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Postmedia Network Canada 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 Postmedia Network Canada A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Postmedia Network Canada A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Postmedia Network Canada A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Printing & Publishing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Postmedia Network Canada A
Strengths of Postmedia Network Canada A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Postmedia Network Canada A are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Postmedia Network Canada 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.
Organizational Resilience of Postmedia Network Canada A
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Postmedia Network Canada A does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Postmedia Network Canada A in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Postmedia Network Canada A has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Postmedia Network Canada A to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Postmedia Network Canada A has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Postmedia Network Canada 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Postmedia Network Canada A has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Printing & Publishing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Postmedia Network Canada A have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Postmedia Network Canada A is one of the most innovative firm in Printing & Publishing sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Printing & Publishing industry
– Postmedia Network Canada A has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Postmedia Network Canada A to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Printing & Publishing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Postmedia Network Canada A to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Postmedia Network Canada A is one of the leading players in the Printing & Publishing industry in Canada. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Canada. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Postmedia Network Canada A 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Postmedia Network Canada A has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Postmedia Network Canada A staying ahead in the Printing & Publishing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Postmedia Network Canada A has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Postmedia Network Canada A to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Postmedia Network Canada A 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 Printing & Publishing industry. The technology infrastructure of Canada is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Weaknesses of Postmedia Network Canada A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Postmedia Network Canada A are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Postmedia Network Canada A, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Printing & Publishing 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.
High dependence on Postmedia Network Canada A ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Postmedia Network Canada A still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Printing & Publishing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Postmedia Network Canada A has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Postmedia Network Canada A products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Postmedia Network Canada A needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Postmedia Network Canada A is one of the leading players in the Printing & Publishing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Printing & Publishing industry in last five years.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Postmedia Network Canada A is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Printing & Publishing industry, but Postmedia Network Canada A needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Postmedia Network Canada A to focus more on services in the Printing & Publishing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Postmedia Network Canada A is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Postmedia Network Canada A to provide better information regarding Printing & Publishing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Postmedia Network Canada A, in the dynamic environment of Printing & Publishing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Postmedia Network Canada A has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring in Printing & Publishing industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Postmedia Network Canada 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Postmedia Network Canada A has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Printing & Publishing industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Postmedia Network Canada 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 Printing & Publishing industry using digital technology.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Canada, Postmedia Network Canada A needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Postmedia Network Canada A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Postmedia Network Canada A are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Postmedia Network Canada 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 Printing & Publishing industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Printing & Publishing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Postmedia Network Canada A in the Printing & Publishing industry. Now Postmedia Network Canada A can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Postmedia Network Canada A has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Printing & Publishing industry. This can help Postmedia Network Canada A to build a more holistic ecosystem for Postmedia Network Canada A products in the Printing & Publishing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Postmedia Network Canada A has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Printing & Publishing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Postmedia Network Canada A to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Postmedia Network Canada A to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Postmedia Network Canada A can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Printing & Publishing industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
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 Postmedia Network Canada A 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Postmedia Network Canada A can develop new processes and procedures in Printing & Publishing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Postmedia Network Canada A can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Postmedia Network Canada A can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Postmedia Network Canada A operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Printing & Publishing sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Postmedia Network Canada 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Postmedia Network Canada A to increase its market reach. Postmedia Network Canada 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Postmedia Network Canada 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Postmedia Network Canada A is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Postmedia Network Canada A can utilize new technology in the field of Printing & Publishing industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Postmedia Network Canada A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Postmedia Network Canada A are -
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.
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. Postmedia Network Canada 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Postmedia Network Canada 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Postmedia Network Canada 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 Printing & Publishing industry and other sectors.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Postmedia Network Canada A in Printing & Publishing industry. The Printing & Publishing 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Printing & Publishing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Postmedia Network Canada A can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Postmedia Network Canada 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 Printing & Publishing sector.
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 Postmedia Network Canada A.
Increasing wage structure of Postmedia Network Canada A
– 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 Postmedia Network Canada A.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Postmedia Network Canada 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 Printing & Publishing industry.
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. Postmedia Network Canada A needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Printing & Publishing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Postmedia Network Canada A is facing in Printing & Publishing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Printing & Publishing industry are lowering. It can presents Postmedia Network Canada A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Printing & Publishing sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Postmedia Network Canada A Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Postmedia Network Canada 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 Postmedia Network Canada 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 Postmedia Network Canada 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 Postmedia Network Canada 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 Postmedia Network Canada A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.