Strategic Reckoning: A SWOT Analysis-driven Exploration of Change in Walmart and Nokia

Organization Overview

Walmart Inc.

Walmart inc. is an American multinational retail cooperation that operates a wide chain of hypermarkets, department and grocery stores as well as retail stores. Founded in 1962, as a traditional brick and mortar retail store, the company currently operates up to 11400 stores in 27 countries under different names and brands. According to Irwin (2019) of the New York Times, the company is currently the world’s largest company by revenue amounting up to US$500 billion and the largest private employer with up to 2.2 million employees in their payroll all across the globe. Despite their success however the shifting market dynamics including the shift of a wide scope of the retailing business to the online domain has driven the need for change leading to the company’s acquisition of Jet.com in an effort to establish an online market to maintain and enhance profitability as well as stay competitive among giants like Amazon. This change majoring from traditional retailing to online sales has brought with it significant changes in the organization including organization structure and leadership. For instance the company needs more speed and less bureaucracy given majority of sales is shifting to the online domain, as such operations necessitate the elimination, merging and addition of a wide range of positions and leadership scope (Schiller, 2017), If you are seeking insights into such transitions, considering aspects such as organizational structure, leadership adaptations, and various others can be very critical in crafting your business dissertation help.

Nokia Cooperation

Nokia is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information and electronics manufacturing company formed in 1967. The company established itself as highly innovative with a wide range of products and highly technological developments such as digital map information navigation services, wireless telecommunication as well as devices such as mobile phone (Bei, 2015). Currently the company has up to 103,000 employees across up to 100 countries and does business with up to 130 countries making average annual revenues of 23 billion Euros. Due to being exclusively product oriented, the company missed a major change in its market often referred to as the Smartphone revolution. According to Bei (2015) consumers transitioned from traditional mobile phones to smart phones, raising intense competition from rival companies such as Apple and Samsung. As a result Nokia partnered with Microsoft and adopted the windows operating system for its Smartphone devices in a bid to maintain competitiveness. Eventually however, given the failure of the windows OS to secure enough market and in a possible collapse of the company, it switched strategies ones again and adopted the Android system for their smart phones carrying with it extensive impact to the organization structure and leadership (Nichols, 2018).

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis represents a business strategic framework which is meant to highlight the internal and external set up of a business and its environment in order to ensure its sustainability and growth within the said environment. The SWOT analysis for both companies are highlighted indicating the internal and external drivers of the changes undertaken.

Walmart

Strengths

Among some of the strengths that Walmart exhibits which impact the need and effectiveness of the change strategy include: being a multinational organization that already operates globally as well as employing the use of information technology to support its universal logistics, having good customer relationship management as well as their success which effectively impacts economies of scale, experimentation with low risk, and effective resource utilization all of which provides a baseline for the development and effective enhancement of the online e-commerce website thus involves an effective driving force to the change strategy (Jurevicus, 2019).

Weaknesses

The business has a thin profit margin, easily replicable business model as well as a competitive disadvantage against high end specialty retail sellers including Amazon all of which have effectively invested in the online market. This highlights the need for the strategic organization change (Smithson, 2019)

Opportunities

Among the major opportunities at the companies disposal and that are effective drivers to the change of the company’s business model to include online retail include the availability of a wide online retail market as well as the companies superior customer Relationship management which the company can capitalize in to increase its online success

Threats

Increasing employee wages and resistance to physical expansion by local authorities are among the threats the company faces according to (Smithson, 2019) and that are effective forces towards organization change into online retailing

Nokia

Strengths

Among the major strengths that Nokia Cooperation exhibits include a significantly recognizable brand name globally as well as a loyal consumer base which is critical to the type of devices that Nokia launches into the market as well as its services. The already existing market only requires considerations of their needs and this is integral in driving the changes experienced within the organization effectively and successfully (Bhasin, 2019).

Weaknesses

The company has always been more device and service oriented as opposed to consumer oriented. This represents a significant weakness in the current economy and as such drives organization change including changing their strategy to being more consumers oriented which impacts the change to using Android operating systems.

Opportunities

Nokia just like any other tech company still has a significant opportunity of widening their product range and prices which should be able to impact their revenue given the increased consumption of their products (Bhasin, 2019). The need to expand product and price range significantly drives the need for changing the operating system of their smart phones in order to be more consumers satisfactory.

Threats

In the current environment a wide range of operating systems and tech companies exist which provides a wide range of substitutes for the products and devices offered, this necessitates the need for change and evolution which highlights another driver for the change strategy adopted by Nokia.

Impacts of the Change Drivers

The drivers of change in the two scenarios are completely different however greatly related to the needs of the consumer. These drivers as such impacted both companies by making them more consumer conscious and realizing the need of market evaluation and consumer preference. While Walmart is quite successful even without the online stores, the drivers of change including increased retail transaction online and the possible shift of the retail industry to the online domain, impacted the company through shifting its organization including organization behavior and leadership to be more online intended and directed. Organization leaders have to now be conversant with the parameters of e-commerce, online marketing and business procedures

Similarly, the change drivers in Nokia including the need to satisfy increasingly dynamic consumers who shifted to smart phones from traditional mobile phones impacted the leadership and strategies of Nokia to be more consumer oriented as opposed to their previous device oriented strategy. The organization behaviors leans more towards market evaluation and determination of what is required by the consumers rather than focusing on sophisticated devices which may not be marketable. Eventually the changes have significantly impacted employees and organization behavior as well as the leaders and leadership structures and mechanisms.

Long-term Implications of Change drivers

Change drivers in Walmart including the shift of retail business to the online section is likely to enhance the continued increase in online retail transactions especially with the convenience of delivery services offered to the consumers. Eventually in the long-term, a wide range of consumers are likely to stick to the online retail sector buying everything they require online and having them delivered to their destination thereby rendering the traditional Brick and Mortar stores obsolete and transferring the entirety of Walmart’s business to the online sector.

Similarly with Nokia, the change drivers’ impact increasingly fast changes in services offered including Smartphone devices and their operating system which enables consumers a wide range of functionalities and an easier to use interface. Long-term implications of these change drivers may lead to the resurfacing and growth of the telecommunications company to rival among the current best within the industry including Apple, Samsung and Huawei. The continued need for seamless services may lead the company to even develop its own operating system which is much easier to operate and use thereby enhance its competitiveness in the market.

Conclusion

Change is inevitable and changes in one part of a system will often lead to changes in the rest of the system due to the continued process of evolution. In the business industry as well growth productivity and sustainability are all hinged to change as such changes in different sectors of the business such as the market and consumer needs, will significantly influence the business model and impact inevitable change in the organizations attached to the market. Given the current state of the market being highly dynamic and dependent on ever changing trends technology and business companies should always been on the lookout for when the market change so as not to remain obsolete and irrelevant in the market.

Recommendations

Organizations including Walmart and Nokia should always include within its strategies possibilities for changes in order to enhance their operations and business models to align them with the market.

Further expansion into the online sector and diversifying the e-commerce sector is a general recommendation for Walmart to ensure its continued and sustainable business model.

Nokia should also continue adopting new technologies in their developments and devices to maintain the market by offering consumers effective modern technology that they prefer to brilliantly designed devices but with outdated technology.

Organization Overview

Nokia Cooperation

Nokia is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information and electronics manufacturing company formed in 1967. The company established itself as highly innovative with a wide range of products and highly technological developments such as digital map information navigation services, wireless telecommunication as well as devices such as mobile phone (Bei, 2015). Currently the company has up to 103,000 employees across up to 100 countries and does business with up to 130 countries making average annual revenues of 23 billion Euros. Nokia is divided into four business groups including: Mobile Phones, Multimedia, Enterprise Solutions, and Networks. The Mobile Phones group markets wireless voice and data products in consumer and corporate markets. The Multimedia segment is involved with selling mobile gaming devices, home satellite systems, and cable television set-top boxes. The Enterprise Solutions group develops wireless systems for use in the corporate sector while the Wireless switching and transmission equipment is sold through the company's Networks division. The company operates 15 manufacturing facilities in nine countries and maintains research and development facilities another 12 countries (APNews, 2018).

Due to being exclusively product oriented, the company missed a major change in its market often referred to as the Smartphone revolution. According to Bei (2015) consumers transitioned from traditional mobile phones to smart phones, raising intense competition from rival companies such as Apple and Samsung. As a result Nokia partnered with Microsoft and adopted the windows operating system for its Smartphone devices in a bid to maintain competitiveness. Bei (2015) also points out that the company purchased Siemens stake in NSN which was nearing the end of a restructuring in 2013. Eventually however, given the failure of the windows OS to secure enough market and in a possible collapse of the company, it switched strategies ones again and adopted the Android system for their smart phones carrying with it extensive impact to the organization structure and leadership (Nichols, 2018). This was in a bid to create urgency in device and service production to match competitors, remove obstacles in the company’s sustainable growth and development path as well as build on the change to regain its maximum operability.

Force Field Analysis: Lewin’s Change Management Model

Force field analysis is a development in social science that provides a framework for looking at the factors that influence a situation, for instance factors that influence change within an organization or social interaction within a society. According to mindtools.com (2019) it was created by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s and was originally used in his work as a social psychologist. It is a powerful method of gaining a comprehensive overview of the different forces acting on a potential organizational change issue, and for assessing their source and strength (Connelly, 2017). The idea behind the tool of analysis is that situations are often maintained at equilibrium between factors that drive and those that resist change. As such the force field analysis based on Lewin’s change management model will be used within this report to highlight the various factors that drive the strategic change at Nokia Cooperation as well as forces that resist the change.

Proposal for change

Altering the business model from complete focus on products and devices including the use of Microsoft Windows operating system to a more consumer centered business model that employs the use of a more competitive and preferred operating system in the Android and production of more consumer driven products and services.

Forces for Change

Bei (2015) highlights a wide range of forces for change both within the internal and external environment. Some of the external environment forces impacting the change include: Technological enhancements which changed the scope of these companies including the different products provided, for instance revolution of the smart phone from the traditional phones as well as the graphitic technological changes which changed the industry dynamics, Economical impacts in the rise of China and its increased imports from developing countries as well as its development of almost exact copies of Nokia devices cheaply, Social impacts in the increased impacts of globalization that influence consumer choice and preferences as well as increased competition from new tech companies that have gained global recognition and brand reputation including, Samsung, Huawei and Iphone (Samarathunga, 2018).

Among the internal forces of the change include managerial issues and employee placement and job security as a result of the number of partnerships that Nokia got into in order to enable effective management of the proposed strategic changes. The forces and factors all had significant impact in the process of decision making within the context or ensuring effective organization change. For instance the company needed to consider the cultural and technological complacency being among the major factors for its dismal performance leading to the need for change and sales of the Lumia series (Lock, 2015). In so, doing consideration of the various advancement in technology to in cooperate in the changes was critical in decision making. Further the economical and social impacts of the changes were significant for consideration for purposes of matching the market demand. And finally the impact of these changes within the organization needed to be controlled and monitored closely in the process of change, necessitating the need for internal management consideration within the decision making process.

Forces against Change

Some of the forces against the specific direction of the change include the use of Android systems by major already established Smartphone manufactures and sellers within the market including Samsung and Huawei which would provide a significant level of immense competition capable of minimizing the company’s eventual success from the change (Bei, 2015). The company according to Samarathunga (2018) also has a long standing business model based on device supremacy and services rather than focusing on the consumer needs and preferences as well as the needs of the market in which it operates in, a culture that may not be quite easy to redo and thus present force against the proposed changes. Bei (2015) sites employee resistance to change as another significant drawback factor to the developed change strategies for the companies pointing out that thousands of employees walked out of working spaces to protest the proposed changes due to the looming job insecurity that comes along with the changes.

These factors have to be significantly considered within the process of decision making as they are critical in the eventual decisions made. for instance employee severance benefits or resettlement plans upon layoffs due to the proposed changes should be considered and impact the extent with which the change can be effected, further the companies inventory due to the previous business model as well as the expected competition brought about by the change all impact the decisions made with regards to timing and scope of the changes.

Change Management Leadership

In the management of change, leadership is a crucial part in ensuring eventual success. Change management will almost be as successful as the leaders taking up the responsibilities for seeing through the changes. And given that different leaders utilize different leadership styles for their effective leadership endeavors the type of changes suggested for Nokia Change management can be achieved by a wide range of leadership styles. Regrdles of the availability od a wide range of leadership styles however Root (2018) points out that three elements are crucial for change leadership management: Communication, Collaboration and commitment. These effectively limit the leadership styles for change management to democratic leadership, strategic leadership, Transactional leadership and Transformational leadership.

This is especially given that these types of leadership allow fluid and effective interaction between the leaders and their followers which is critical especially in the process of change. In transformational leadership the goal is to transform an organization and so both the leader and their followers are aware that organization change is the key decision and operation involved within the organizations day to day activities, in transactional leadership, open lines of communication between leaders and followers exist which further enhance the process of communication and collaboration which are critical in devising effective and creative ways of implementing the organization change process.

Democratic leadership on the other hand allows every member of the organization an equal voice in the process of change and enables creative and innovative ways of ensuring the eventual success of the change process for the continued development and growth of the organization. Perhaps strategic leadership however will be the most effective leadership style for implementing organization change management at Nokia. The leader remains the vision bearer and the main stir of the organization change through guiding their employees in effective collaboration and communication with regards to their roles and activities towards making the change process a success eventually.

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