Strategic Plan Part II-SWOTT Analysis 7
Strategic Plan Part II-SWOTT Analysis
Einstein A. Machado
BUS-475
July 15, 2012
Professor Walton
Strategic Plan Part II-SWOTT Analysis
My Hispanic television company has become a top cable station in the United States. Along the way we have encountered many obstacles and hard times in order to be where we are. We have achieved several accomplishments and have received acknowledgments and many awards. Eventhough, we have these accomplishments, we remain humble and focused on maintaining our commitment to the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community has acknowledged our importance in the community and the people remain loyal to the cable station that brings them quality programming in their language.
As a company, my Hispanic television company is constantly adapting and changing with the trends of the market. In order to stay above water, one needs to anticipate and react before it is too late. Therefore, strategic planning is always in conversations between stakeholders, management, and employees during company forums. There are open discussions internally that determine the overall direction of the company and action plans that are put in place in order to make it through the different turns of the market. My Hispanic television company has remained consistent and adamant to our brand and maintains a solid reputation within the media world for introducing quality content and programming. There are some external, internal forces and trends that are involved in strategic planning. Some of these forces have positive and negative repercussions. Nevertheless, they need to be considered and handled if it is affecting the company. When these forces and trends are introduced to the company it is first addressed by upper management and stake holders. Monthly board meetings are held in New York to discuss relationships, contracts, agreements and the overall status of the company. A broad scope of the company is revealed and the pacing of how the company is doing compared to the rest of the market is also addressed. From these monetary figures, short term goals and long term goals are put in place in order to delegate to the different divisions and accountability is held for each divisions. We are expected to succeed in our plan and if we are unable, a thorough explanation is needed along with recommendations on how to eventually achieve the plan. From there managers and directors discuss the plan with the employees and there are deadlines placed for the completion of the project.
One of the most important forces to be considered is the economic force. When considering the economic force, what needs to be thought about is what economic trends will have an impact on my Hispanic television company’s business activity. When considering this question, there are several economic elements that affect the business activity of the television company. Some examples are the unemployment levels, and the international market. Unemployment levels reached a record low a few years back and they are still pacing very low. In turn, this has affected the company because many lay-offs have affected clients and customers of advertisers that advertise with us. Unemployment levels have also simply closed down establishments who have advertised with the station. It is unfortunate for many reasons. This has directly affected the forecasted revenue figures for my Hispanic television company. Once again, the company has had to adapt to these unfortunate times and has had to think of ways to change and keep strong and persevere. Another example of economic force would be from the decline of the International economy. The international economy has taken a severe hit with broken governments, unemployment, and poverty. In turn this effects manufacturing and production back in the United States and thereby affects the amount of advertising dollars that can be invested. Although the economic status of the general market is declining the economic spending power of Hispanics has risen. It is also expected to grow well into the year 2019. Therefore, the economic growth has presented television station with much opportunity to plead our case with English language cable advertisers and show them the growth and potential in Hispanics and how it could help grow our business.
A second force that frequently encountered for many companies is the legal and regulatory force. As a cable television station, the company is committed to providing our audience with quality programming and content. With that being said, we are also very anal with what kind of commercial footage is placed on the air in compliance with the FCC. Therefore, the station has invested a lot in developing an elite legal department with years of experience to properly represent the company if any legal action was to be taken. My Hispanic television company has also been very diligent in producing a thorough Standard and Practice manual that will explain in detail to the advertiser what can and what cannot run on the station. My Hispanic television company also makes sure that there are disclaimers placed on paid programming material that is not in relation to the station. With paid programming the disclaimer simply states that the company is not in compliance or in agreement with any of the ideas or concepts being advertised in the program. It is a legal clause that clears my company from any affiliation with the advertiser. The advertiser is simply paying for the time slot and that is all. The opportunity with having a well versed legal and regulatory department is that it helps you to focus on other needs within the company. It offers assurance and confidence that regulations are addressed and potential clients are well aware of legal and regulatory agreements upheld by the television company prior to a partnership beginning.
A third force which is more internal is resources. A perfect way to distinguish different resources of the company is to consider what resources are tangible and which are intangible. Tangible resources are obviously easier to discover because they have an immediate effect like financial statements and physical assets such as computers, office supplies, etc. The intangible resources are a bit more difficult to notice because they are usually noticed over time. The intangible resources however are the resources that affect a company the most because it could be talking about reputation, credibility or the brand of the company. However, if used correctly, resources can present many opportunities for my Hispanic television company. Having the capability and resources to react to a change in the market without sustaining too much risk or decline is a good characteristic to have as a company. I believe my company does possess the right resources to advance and progress in the market increasing our overall market share and viewership.
Another internal force that is important for my Hispanic television company is leadership. The leadership for my company has evolved a great deal. Leadership presents much opportunity for the company because it motivates and improves work productivity amongst all employees and management working towards improving the network.
The fifth force is Technological. When considering the external force, the television company would need to consider which technologies are maturing? And what technological trends are affecting the industry. Therefore, recently a technology that was maturing for the company which needed to be replaced was the conversion from Analog to HD. For many years, television traffic departments had machines that could only read Analog and Beta formatted videos. Even in the early years of HD on TV, these machines were still in place at the station. This caused for many clients to refuse to advertise with the company because other networks were already working with HD machines and we were not. The technology had already reached its maturing stage and it was time for an immediate change. Within a few short months, we replaced our old machine with a new HD machine and we are now able to upload and feed commercials in HD Format. The HD trend has been a market wide change. Eventhough there are still some cable stations that are not fully available in HD, the demand is increasing and the stations must try to switch to HD before they sign off for good.
A sixth external force is competitive analysis. My Hispanic television company has invested a lot of money in developing a research library that will help with making the case that the television station is important in the market place. The company also has many partnerships and agreements with very reputable companies such as Nielsen, Scarborough, Adviews, and Geoscape. These partnerships have allowed my television station to produce an elaborate in detail current competitive analysis on our position within the market and what our competition is doing. We have also been able to provide clients and advertisers with accurate information on what time periods and what programming is doing well for us in comparison to the other cable stations.
The last force is culture. For culture, my company needs to ask the question of what emerging trends of demographic size in relation to the market, fashions, lifestyle, etc pertaining to culture can possible effect the station. These are all legitimate concepts that are considered by my company when compiling a plan. There is a division that I created that focuses on getting to know and understand the acculturation of Hispanics and how they affiliate in different categories. We offer insight and consultation to the advertisers to show them the importance of culture to Hispanics and to the message through advertisement. It’s not only about advertising a hamburger on TV; Hispanics are interested in the overall experience and a key relation to our culture. My company possesses great opportunity with culture. Culture offers the advertiser a deeper dive and understanding on how Hispanics look at a commercial. It’s much more than dealing with emotion and family and sharing. Utilizing this force can be very advantageous for the television company.
A SWOTT analysis focuses on the different parts of an organization. It consists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and trends. Internal forces refer to strengths and weaknesses that usually effect the company’s standing within the market. While external forces examine the opportunities, threats and trends in the environment. These seven internal and external forces prove to be important for my Hispanic television company’s advancement and success amongst the competition in the overall scope of the market.