SWOT TEMPLATE
SWOT- Executive Summary The SWOT document is an important step for this company, as it will feed into our strategy blueprint. This SWOT has been generated on the basis interactions with internal and external entities on host of items. The details of the information can be found in the External and Internal Information Assessment documents. SWOT for the company Strengths Core operational capability Reach of our Distribution network Weaknesses Product Introduction capability Baggage of existing investments
Opportunities Under-served middle & high-end customer segments Cheaper and cost effective supplier of choice for other markets
Threats Competitors under-cutting leading to unprofitable playing field Governments unpredictable telecom policy
Core Operational Capability What is this and why are we calling it as our strength Solid relationships with the delivery vendors (company has outsourced many of its product delivery and operational jobs). Volume scalability- given our supply chain, we can scale the volumes up or down depending upon the need. 97% adherence to SLA- while we are expected to meet 95% adherence to SLA, our overall adherence is to the level of 97% consistently over last three years. (Note- you may see that SLA might need to be revised if we are going to target higher-end customers). We are in top quartile for the consistency & quality as delivered in mass-market segment.
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How can we leverage this strength? We can leverage this strength to drive a quantum jump in our quality benchmarks to enable us target high-end customers. We can expect to deliver the newly introduced products in the delivery pipeline. (NOTE- if we have the product development capability, our delivery capability can be leveraged to deliver the product consistently.)
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Reach of our distribution Network
What is this and why are we calling it as our strength Our sales network is spread to maximum number of A, B and C category locations. We have a good depth in all A and B category locations. We have our internal as well as contracted sales agents. We have a robust sales lead management system. We have our retail outlets having robust and standard set-ups
Our closest competition has a geographical coverage of 60% of our existing network. There is only one company, which is having a higher level of spread. Compared to the industry, Level of attrition in our sales staff is least in the company, due to our sound HR practices and compensation systems. How can we leverage this strength? One of our opportunities is to target middle and high-end customer segments. This distribution network can provide us the vehicle of selling more complex and value-add products.
Product Introduction Capability
What is this and why are we calling it as our weakness Our Product Introduction turn-around times are among the longest in the Industry. Our technology capability is not parameterized or flexible enough to create new products or variants of existing. We have the maximum number approvals & sign-offs, which take inordinate time (especially with the regional and global sign-offs). Our project management capabilities in the given function are limited
Our competition has developed a good technology capability, and they have mostly local approvals, which give them a major advantage. It has happened couple of time that they have picked our concepts and launched the product ahead of us. How can we overcome this weakness? Upgrade our technology platform to give us long-term flexibility and capability to launch new products. Agree with regional and global approval bodies to issue the guidelines, under which the market has to work. As long as the market is working within the prescribed norms, the sign-off should not be required.
Baggage of existing investments What is this and why are we calling it as our weakness: We invested hugely in our offices and front-end retail outlets, in terms of furniture/furnishing and other top of the line facilities. The capital and operational expense of these retail outlets are long-term liabilities, and the P&L is getting impacted. Our technology platform is highly costly in terms sheer maintenance. It does not leave us with too many dollars for investment.
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Our competition has been able to leverage on internet-based services/acquisition or at-home services or share facilities approach to achieve a lean but effective retail outlet strategy.
How can we overcome this weakness? As one of the opportunities for us is to target middle and higher end customers, who will give us a higher revenue and profitability, these retail outlets can shift towards being strength. We can use these retail outlets as the display and sales area for accessories, which go along with our products. As we should shrink-wrap the existing technology platform and build a second layer on new and cheaper technology platform.
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Under-served middle and High-end customers What is this and why are we calling it as an opportunity? Currently there are hardly any products, which are specifically targeted for middle and high-end customer segments. Most of the campaigns are slated to push for higher spending but they don’t offer services and unique features for high-end segment apart from volume discounts. In the other matured market, there are many examples and the companies like , which have successfully adopted the strategy. How can we en-cash this opportunity? With right product introduction capability and technology support, company has an evolved distribution and operational capability to capture high and middle end segment with profitable and high revenue business.
Cheaper and cost-effective supplier of choice for other markets What is this and why are we calling it as an opportunity? Given our operational capability and more economic cost of operations, we can provide back-end processing/production services to other markets, which will be a great win-win exchange. How can we en-cash this opportunity? We can re-orient our production model to standardize it in lines of a global production model, which can also be flexible to deliver market specific needs. We can (with the help of company board) influence other markets and go for a showcase.
Competitors are under-cutting leading to unprofitable playing field. What is this and why are we calling it as a threat As mass-market is highly price sensitive, the competition is doing desperate price-cut to get as many customers as possible. These customers are not loyal and the attrition rate is high. This is leading to un-profitable operations for most players. How can we mitigate this threat? While we should stay in the mass-market segment, we should gradually opt to middle and highend segment, which is growing fast. This segment is fairly under-served, and we have a huge potential. With increase of our capability to support middle and high-end segment, the rub-off effect will position us as a quality player with in the mass-market segment as well.
Political Instability What is this and why are we calling it as a threat Existing government in the centre is a coalition government and it may not have the stability for long. Industry has been successfully lobbying for positive changes with a receptive response from current government. However, there is a fear that country could for mid-term elections. How can we mitigate this threat? We have to form a stronger industry association. We need to create special position in the organization to drive a common agenda with the industry council, so keep on making strong case for the industry.