SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Macquarie Telecom (Australia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Macquarie Telecom is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Macquarie Telecom
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Macquarie Telecom can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Macquarie Telecom, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Macquarie Telecom
2. Improving business portfolio management of Macquarie Telecom
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Communications Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Macquarie Telecom
Strengths of Macquarie Telecom | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Macquarie Telecom are -
Digital Transformation in Communications Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Macquarie Telecom digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Macquarie Telecom 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Communications Services industry
– Macquarie Telecom is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Communications Services
– Macquarie Telecom is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry in Australia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Communications Services industry in Australia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Macquarie Telecom in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Macquarie Telecom has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Macquarie Telecom 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
– Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Macquarie Telecom is present in almost all the verticals within the Communications Services industry. This has provided Macquarie Telecom 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Macquarie Telecom is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry in Australia. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Australia. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Macquarie Telecom has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Macquarie Telecom to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Macquarie Telecom in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Macquarie Telecom has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Macquarie Telecom to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Macquarie Telecom 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Macquarie Telecom is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Services sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communications Services industry
– Macquarie Telecom has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Macquarie Telecom to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communications Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Macquarie Telecom to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Macquarie Telecom | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Macquarie Telecom are -
Need for greater diversity
– Macquarie Telecom 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.
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 Macquarie Telecom supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Macquarie Telecom is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Macquarie Telecom vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Macquarie Telecom is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Macquarie Telecom to provide better information regarding Communications Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Macquarie Telecom strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Macquarie Telecom 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Australia, Macquarie Telecom needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Communications Services industry, Macquarie Telecom 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Macquarie Telecom is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Macquarie Telecom is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Communications Services industry in last five years.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Macquarie Telecom 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Macquarie Telecom is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communications Services industry, but Macquarie Telecom needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Macquarie Telecom to focus more on services in the Communications Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Macquarie Telecom Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Macquarie Telecom are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Macquarie Telecom to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Macquarie Telecom is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Macquarie Telecom can utilize new technology in the field of Communications Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom to increase its market reach. Macquarie Telecom 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Macquarie Telecom 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.
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. Macquarie Telecom 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. Macquarie Telecom 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Macquarie Telecom 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Macquarie Telecom can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Macquarie Telecom 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Macquarie Telecom can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Macquarie Telecom operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communications Services sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Macquarie Telecom can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Communications Services 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Macquarie Telecom has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Communications Services industry. This can help Macquarie Telecom to build a more holistic ecosystem for Macquarie Telecom products in the Communications Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Macquarie Telecom External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Macquarie Telecom are -
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. Macquarie Telecom needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communications Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Macquarie Telecom 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.
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 Macquarie Telecom.
Environmental challenges
– Macquarie Telecom 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. Macquarie Telecom can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communications Services industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Macquarie Telecom 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Macquarie Telecom 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.
Increasing wage structure of Macquarie Telecom
– 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 Macquarie Telecom.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Macquarie Telecom has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communications Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Communications Services sector.
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 Macquarie Telecom business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Macquarie Telecom 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Macquarie Telecom Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom 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 Macquarie Telecom needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.