Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Starstream Entmt Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Starstream Entmt Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Starstream Entmt Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Starstream Entmt Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Starstream Entmt Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Starstream Entmt Inc
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 Starstream Entmt Inc
Strengths of Starstream Entmt Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Starstream Entmt Inc are -
Training and development
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Starstream Entmt Inc is one of the most innovative firm in Motion Pictures sector.
Diverse revenue streams
– Starstream Entmt Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Motion Pictures industry. This has provided Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Learning organization
- Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Starstream Entmt Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Motion Pictures industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Starstream Entmt Inc digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Starstream Entmt Inc has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Starstream Entmt Inc staying ahead in the Motion Pictures industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Motion Pictures
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc 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
– Starstream Entmt Inc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Starstream Entmt Inc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Weaknesses of Starstream Entmt Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Starstream Entmt Inc are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Starstream Entmt Inc, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Skills based hiring in Motion Pictures industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Starstream Entmt Inc products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Starstream Entmt Inc needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Starstream Entmt Inc supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Starstream Entmt Inc is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Starstream Entmt Inc vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Motion Pictures industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Starstream Entmt Inc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Starstream Entmt Inc to provide better information regarding Motion Pictures products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Starstream Entmt Inc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Motion Pictures industry, but Starstream Entmt Inc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Starstream Entmt Inc to focus more on services in the Motion Pictures industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Motion Pictures industry, Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Starstream Entmt Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Starstream Entmt Inc are -
Buying journey improvements
– Starstream Entmt Inc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Motion Pictures 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 Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
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. Starstream Entmt Inc 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
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Starstream Entmt Inc 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, Starstream Entmt Inc is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Starstream Entmt Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Motion Pictures industry. This can help Starstream Entmt Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Starstream Entmt Inc products in the Motion Pictures industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Starstream Entmt Inc to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Starstream Entmt Inc to increase its market reach. Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Starstream Entmt Inc 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. Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Threats Starstream Entmt Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Starstream Entmt Inc are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Starstream Entmt Inc is facing in Motion Pictures 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 Motion Pictures industry are lowering. It can presents Starstream Entmt Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Motion Pictures sector.
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 Starstream Entmt Inc business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Starstream Entmt Inc needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Motion Pictures industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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. Starstream Entmt Inc can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Motion Pictures industry.
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 Starstream Entmt Inc in the Motion Pictures sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc
– 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 Starstream Entmt Inc.
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.
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. Starstream Entmt Inc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Starstream Entmt Inc 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Starstream Entmt Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc 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 Starstream Entmt Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.