Abstract:
The paper presents a detailed outline for Global Communications Ltd on how they can reap the benefits of existing opportunities in the market. The paper throws light on what the existing opportunities are, how the company can position itself to gain benefits out of these opportunities and what extra efforts it will need to conduct in order to reap the benefits.
The risks involved in the strategies given and the mitigation techniques have also been provided.
Introduction:
The paper discusses the different events happening in the satellite technology industry and how these events can provide an opportunity for Global Communications UK Ltd. These events have provided an opportunity for growth into related markets and can be seen as a way to enhance the firm’s current market.
According to Rachel Villain, various financial investors are interested in this business which initially used to get investment form the government only. These days the financial investors find the industry profitable and can predict future growth trends. Moreover, one can see the technology business has been booming for the past several years. One also sees that technology is spreading across many continents which have lived in the dark ages. This provides an opportunity for growth in the foreign market. The company, Global Communications UK Ltd can also find attractive opportunities because it sells customized solutions and can thus, differentiate its products from the rest.
This paper discusses these events in detail. It describes how these opportunities can be turned into a successful growth strategy. The paper provides a complete action plan needed to be taken by the company to successfully reap the benefits of these opportunities.
Opportunity Identification:
Through an analysis of the past trends and events in the satellite and telecommunications industry, following trends have been identified:
Increasing investor interest in the satellite industry as they consider it a profitable one
Increasing demand for the satellite and television products as more and more people and places are getting technology products because of their decreasing rates
Movement from mass production towards customized product solutions
These trends have given birth to various opportunities for Global Communications Ltd. These opportunities if sensibly dealt with can result in increased growth and sustainability in the future. The opportunities for Global Communications are as follows:
Chances for getting capital have improved. This suggests that the firm can take up growth initiatives that previously could not have been taken due to capital constraints.
The firm is already selling in South Africa, now the Asian countries especially India also present an opportunity for growth as technology products are in great demand in these countries.
The concept of mass production which went extremely successful after World War II is now getting obsolete. Today, the customer demands customization of the product to fit his particular needs. Since, Global Communications Ltd already provides customized products; they can extend this business further.
Stakeholder Perspective:
When Global Communication Ltd takes upon any of the available opportunities then there will be various parties to it. These parties will have their vested interests in the opportunity and they are as follows:
The company Management:
They will be held responsible by the company owners in case the venture fails. Hence, they need to ensure that whatever opportunity they take up can be supported by them. If the management takes on a high risk opportunity, for instance, they start business with a third world country then it might risk the shareholder and /or investor interest.
The investors:
They have their money at stake hence, they are at most risk. They need to evaluate the risks and benefits of the opportunity being taken u by the company before deciding to invest. However, once they have invested then they have the right to take part in whatever decisions are being made about the venture being taken up as they have put their money at risk.
The partner firm (if any):
If Global Communications Ltd partners with any firm when taking up any opportunity then, it will also be involved in decision making. When deciding to partner with any firm global Communications Ltd must consider all the pros and cons involved. The partner firm should see that whatever opportunity is being taken up can be supported by them.
The company owners:
This group of stakeholders also has its money at stake. Hence, they have the right to accept or reject a decision to take up any opportunity. They should be vigilant enough to see that a certain opportunity is risky or not and also see to it that in case failure occurs, what will happen to their investment in the company.
Problem statement:
Global Communications will increase its market share by developing customized solutions for specified a specified customer base.
End-state-vision:
When the firm takes on the opportunity to build customized versions of its products and also, develops a new variety of products then it will build upon its current strengths, develop newer strengths and achieve the goal of taking the market away from its competitors and becoming the market leader in providing satellite and television products.
The end state goals for Global Communications Ltd are as follows:
Becoming the market leader in providing satellite and television products.
Finding and capturing on a specific niche.
Finding the right partners for achieving the above stated vision.
Successfully differentiating itself from the competitors and building strong relations with customers.
Alternate Solutions:
The firm can use various techniques to formulate an action plan which will ultimately result in letting Global Communications achieve their objective. The alternative solutions identified are as follows:
According to Raymond Adler, when a firm gains expertise in a specialized industry then it can differentiate itself from the rest. This strategy allows a firm to focus its efforts in a particular area. Global Communications can benefit from such a strategy by focusing its efforts on a certain product area for which it has the best resources. What is needed is a plan of action which identifies all the required skills, available skills and other resources, cost, money available etc. Global Communications should identify the target customers which it thinks it can satisfy better than others and focus on catering to their needs.
Another approach is to identify a customer segment that has not been catered to as yet. Such customers might be available in countries which have not been targeted by Global Communications in past. Such customers might offer a great opportunity and become an attractive market for the future.
Global Communications might also deem it appropriate to partner with any of its competitors to cater to customer groups whose demands it cannot fulfill alone. When the firm will join hands with someone else then they will be better equipped to deal with ever changing customer demands.
Another approach would be to work on the R&D (John Baldwin, 2004.) facility of the company. This can prove to be beneficial for the firm when it tries to develop newer versions of existing products. Building upon the research and development strengths will help the firm in developing products faster than competitors and gaining the market away from the competitors.
Analysis of alternate solutions:
The goals stated above have been assigned the following weights:
Goal
Weight Assigned
Goal 1
50%
Goal 2
20%
Goal 3
10%
Goal 4
20%
These goals have been assigned weights relative to their importance in achieving the company’s end state vision. For instance, partnering with a firm is less important than finding the right niche to target. If the firm finds the right target customers then it might not even need a partner but in case the target customers cannot be catered to by Global Communications alone then finding the right firm to partner with becomes extremely important.
With respect to the first goal, alternative four is rated one on a scale of one to five with one being the most important and five being least important building upon the firm’s research and development abilities will help it in becoming the market leader. What the firm needs is to get the best in house R&D facilities. This will allow it to find out customer needs before the competitors can do so and develop products to cater to those needs. This is a guarantee formula for achieving market leadership. However, the firm must ensure that it has the right people and technology in its R&D.
With respect to the second goal, alternative one is rated 2. Alternative one is considered important in order to capture a niche because it provides a great opportunity to Global Communications. If they can find a particular niche for themselves such as catering to a specified industry group or targeting the retail industry only then they will have affair chance of capturing this entire industry.
With respect to the third goal, alternative three is rated one on a scale of one to five. This is so because this alternative completely matches the requirements of the third goal. To find the right kind of partner for the firm, it needs to evaluate all those available and then determine the one who s best suited for this partnership which is the solution given in alternate three. Also, when searching for a partner, global Communications mist see the synergies between itself and the partner firm and whether such a partnership would be beneficial in the long run.
With respect to the fourth goal, alternative two is deemed most important and is rated two. This is so because in order to achieve the goal of building healthy relations with customers, the firm Global Communications needs to find out the right set of customers whose need can be catered to be the organization and they are not being catered to by any competitors so their needs currently are unfulfilled. They need to conduct a thorough research to find out if any such customers are available and they can be satisfied by Global Communications.
Risk Assessment and Mitigation Techniques
For the first alternative solution where Global Communications is finding and specializing in a particular niche, the risk involved are as follows:
The firm might not be the only one in catering to that particular niche for a long time. This means that competitors might come up in the same product area and snatch the firm’s market. The probability of such a risk depends on the product area. If the firm comes up with a totally new product and competitors have a long way to go for developing that product then the probability of such a risk might be low but if the firm is entering into a product area for which its competitors are also, developing products then this risk has a high probability. Hence, the firm should conduct a thorough feasibility study of all the available product areas before deciding to take up one as their major product offering for the future.
For the second alternative, the risks involved are as follows:
The risk here is that the particular customer segment might not have enough demand to let the company earn sufficient revenues from it. Also, if the firm is targeting a customer segment which have newly gained access to these technologies then such a risk becomes highly probable. The firm must conduct thorough research before targeting any one particular segment.
For the third alternative, the risks involved are as follows:
The firm might partner with the wrong company. Such a risk can be mitigated away if Global Communications conducts appropriate research before entering into a partnership and also, signs a contract saying what Global Communications’ rights will be in case of the breach of contract.
Global Communications might find that they have to bear extra costs of partnership and the results have not improved as much. For such a risk, the firm must analyze all the available partners before deciding which one can give them the most benefit.
Optimal Solution
The best way to take advantage of the existing opportunities is to develop the research and development capabilities of the firm. Global Communications is already offering a wide range of products to its customers and thus, its research and development facility is already functioning. All it needs to do is build upon that facility so that it is better than those of others’.
Global Communications should see that competition will intensify in the future because of the attention of financial sector investors being paid to this industry (Rachel Villain). Hence, many new firms might come up when they get funding and start occupying small niches while the existing ones might take up this opportunity and come up with newer versions of existing products. Hence, it is time for Global Communications to take up this opportunity and develop products before its competitors can do so.
Global Communications should first of all decide on what kind of new offerings it wishes to provide then it should look into the amount of funding that it will need and how much of it will be available from within. Also, it should take the approval of its major shareholders before committing to any new venture. Then it should look for investors who will be willing to invest in such an activity. Moreover, the firm should take into consideration the fact that whatever money is being spent on this research and development tasks is well spent. It should take proper monitoring and control measures.
According to John Baldwin (1997), research and development is a collaborative effort. The ideas for innovation can come from many sources such as customers, suppliers, university researches etc. These ideas can be modified to fit the organizational capabilities and the opportunities available.
Such a solution will help Global Communications achieve its visions of becoming the market leader in the following manner:
Once, global has developed the capabilities of research and development, it will be able to forecast the changing demand patterns of its customers and thus, be able to modify its product line based on those changing needs.
It will also have the funding available from its financial investors thus; it will not be stuck with a brilliant idea and no money to implement it.
Having a well groomed research and development facility will help the firm in shortening its product development cycle and quickly passing through the stages of idea screening, approvals for development etc. This will help Global Communications in developing the products before its competitors can do so.
Last but not the least, such a facility will help Global Communications in coming up with newer versions of its own products thus, retiring them before a competitor can do so. It will be so capable that it will enhance its product offerings before anyone else because its research facility will guide it that customer needs will be changing shortly. Hence, it will come up with newer or better offerings for the future.
Plan Implementation
To develop a fully operative, well designed research and development facility will take sometime. The following activities will need to be conducted:
Estimating the resources needed
Getting the required human and material resources
Establishing an operating research and development centre
Conducting the required research
Developing the newly designed products
All of these activities will take approximately two to four years if the company conducts a throughout research study before stepping into a new product design. Following functions of Global Communications will need to be involved during this process:
Finance:
They will be the ones who will make arrangements of the financial resources required and will get the budget approvals.
Production:
They will need to keep some of their staff for the research and development activities which the organization will conduct.
Human Resource:
They will help recruit the additional human resource required for the job.
Upper Management:
They will play a crucial role in getting investment from outside.
Result Evaluation:
The results of the activities taken to establish a fully operative research ad development centre should be measured against such benchmarks as:
The activities are completed during the time allotted
The activities are completed using the allotted human resource and financial resources
The activities have led customers become more loyal (This can be estimated using surveys)
The company has become more popular compared to its competitors and compared to it in past years.
The firm has succeeded in finding the changing demand patterns accurately.
Conclusion:
Global communications UK Ltd needs to act on the opportunities which have been made available due to changes in the external environment. They need to focus on building research and development as their main strength and need to strengthen themselves so much in this area that they become the market leaders in the field on satellite and television products.
Research and development can help the firm in attaining sustainable growth because they will enable it to compete with its own products and improve itself before competitors have a chance to do so.
Bibliography:
Adler Raymond. (2005). A Powerful Strategy for Gaining Market Share and Differentiation. Retrieved January, 24, 2007 from http://www.wib.org/wb_articles/spec_lend_jun05/mkt_share_jun05.htm
Baldwin John. (2004). The Importance of Research and Development for Innovation in Small and Large Canadian Firms. Retrieved January, 24, 2007.
http://www.globalcom.co.uk/company.php
http://www.satsol.co.uk/productslist.aspx?CategoryID=8006
http://www.avforums.com/forums/view.php?pg=tvguide
Villain Rachel. (2005). Key Trends for the Satellite Industry. Retrieved January, 24, 2007 from http://www.space.com/spacenews/archive05/VillainOpEd_090605.html
