Omni-channel Business: Strategies to Mitigate Market Competition - Desklib

This report will shed light on the concept of market competition and the various effective strategies which the business organizations take in order to reduce the amount of competition faced by them. To achieve this particular purpose the report will take into consideration the case of the company Telecom Italia. The report will begin by giving an overview of the company and the market competition faced by them. The report will also provide an overview of the customer experience and provide a one year plan for the company and also the budget that it would it entail. Finally, the report will conclude by providing some recommendations which the company can follow.

Running head: OMNI-CHANNEL BUSINESS
Omni-channel Business
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Executive Summary
This report will shed light on the concept of market competition and the various effective
strategies which the business organizations take in order to reduce the amount of competition
faced by them. To achieve this particular purpose the report will take into consideration the
case of the company Telecom Italia. The report will begin by giving an overview of the
company and the market competition faced by them. The report will also provide an
overview of the customer experience and provide a one year plan for the company and also
the budget that it would it entail. Finally, the report will conclude by providing some
recommendations which the company can follow.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Organization activity outline......................................................................................................3
Competition review....................................................................................................................5
Threat from new entrants.......................................................................................................5
Threat from substitutes...........................................................................................................5
Bargaining power of the buyers.............................................................................................5
Bargaining power of the suppliers.........................................................................................6
Industry rivalry.......................................................................................................................6
Consumer experience analysis...................................................................................................6
Proposed objectives (for one year).............................................................................................7
Proposed plan (for one year)......................................................................................................7
Budget........................................................................................................................................8
Corrective measures...................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Competition forms an important part of the business world in the present times. It is
significant to note that the advent of globalization and the advancement of technology and the
latest innovations have drastically transformed the way the various business organizations
conduct their business (Campbell, Coff and Kryscynski 2012). Thus, it is often seen that the
various business organizations take the help of the diverse analytical tools to analyze the
market condition and also to get an idea of the level of competition faced by them (Campbell,
Coff and Kryscynski 2012). The analysis of the market condition and the competition faced
by the various business organizations not only gives them an idea of the level of competition
faced by them but also helps them to devise effective strategies for their mitigation
(Campbell, Coff and Kryscynski 2012). Thus, it can be said that effective competitive
strategies help the various business organizations to bring about their overall growth as well
as development. This report will provide an overview of the market competition faced by the
company Telecom Italia and their digital media strategies.
Organization activity outline
The company Telecom Italia was formed in the year 1994 “by the merger of several
state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was Società
Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico p.A., (known as SIP, from the earlier Società Idroelettrica
Piemontese), the former state monopoly telephone operator in Italy” (Telecomitalia.com
2018). The company is one of the leading telecom service providers in the nation of Italy.
Furthermore, in the stock exchange market the company trades under the name of Borsa
Italiana (Telecomitalia.com 2018). Although the major business of the company is centered
in the nation of Italy yet the business organization also provides services to the customers of
Brazil through the help of “TIM subsidiary, (TIM Brasil)”(Telecomitalia.com 2018). The

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company not only provides landline phone services to the citizens of the nation of Italy but
also provides broadband services, “mobile services in Italy, GSM mobile phone services in
Italy” (Telecomitalia.com 2018). In a bid to enhance its international reputation and also with
the inherent aim to expand its business to the other nations of the world the company in the
year subscribed to the “United Nations corporate responsibility initiative Global Compact”.
The company has been a leading champion of the environmental as well as social issues of
the nation and it is a reflection of this that the company “on June 2014 it signed an agreement
with A2A to buy energy only from renewable sources” (Telecomitalia.com 2018). The
company as “per a 2018 statistics was the 300th largest company in the world in terms of the
net revenue generated by it on a yearly basis” (Forbes.com. 2018). It is significant to note that
for the year 2017 the net revenue of the company was “$18.1 billion” (Forbes.com. 2018).
Some of the financial statistics of the company are provided by the below given figure-
Figure 1: Financial statistics of the company Telecom Italia
Source: “Factset, Bloomberg, S&P Cap IQ; Forbes”

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Competition review
The most commonly used framework to analyze the market competition faced by a
particular business organization is the “Porter’s five forces model” (Wagner and Hollenbeck
2014). An analysis of the company on the basis of this particular framework would reveal the
following facts-
Threat from new entrants
The company Telecom Italia is “one of the leading telecom companies” of the nation
of Italy. The company has been in business for around two decades and the profit margin of
the company has been increasingly steadily (Telecomitalia.com 2018). Thus, it can be said
that “the company faces a minimum amount of threat from the new entrants” in the telecom
market of the nation of Italy (Wagner and Hollenbeck 2014).
Threat from substitutes
It is significant to note that there are many business organizations in the nation of
Italy related to the telecom industry. However, the company Telecom Italia has a very stable
customer base and some of the offers provided by this particular company are very unique as
well as attracting (Telecomitalia.com 2018). Therefore, “it would be apt to say that that the
company” faces a very low amount of risk from the various substitute companies which are
available in the market.
Bargaining power of the buyers
In the opinion of Porter, “if the bargaining power of the buyers is high then that is
likely to hurt the prospects of the company in a negative manner” (Barney 2014). It is
significant to note that “the switching over cost for the customers who are subscribers to the
services provided by this particular company is very high” (Saeidi et al 2015). It is to be
noted that the customers of this particular company need to take a subscription which lasts for

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approximately either three or six or twelve months (Telecomitalia.com 2018). Moreover, the
services provided by this particular company are comparatively cheaper than the same
services provided by the other business organizations in the nation of Italy (Saeidi et al 2015).
Therefore, it would be apt to say that the bargaining power of the customers is very low.
Bargaining power of the suppliers
The suppliers of the company Telecom Italia are the various technicians, software
developers, IT service providers and others. It is generally seen that “if the bargaining power
of the various suppliers related to a particular business is high then that is likely to hurt the
prospects of the business organization concerned in a negative manner” (Barney 2014). It is
significant to note that “the company under consideration here takes the help of multiple
suppliers” and this helps the company to reduce the bargaining power of its various suppliers
in a significant manner (Telecomitalia.com 2018).
Industry rivalry
It is significant to note that the company faces a significant amount of rivalry as well
as competition from the various companies in the nation of Italy operating in the same
industry. The company uses various effective strategies in a bid to reduce the amount of
competition faced by it. One of the most significant strategies used by the company to reduce
the level of competition faced by it is the policy of price competition (Saeidi et al 2015).
Consumer experience analysis
The customers as already mentioned form the most important part of the various
business organization (Sigala, Christou and Gretzel 2012). Therefore, the primary focus of
the various businesses is on the fulfillment of the various needs as well as the requirement of
the customers (Sigala, Christou and Gretzel 2012). It is significant to note that most of the
customers of the company concerned are a regular part of the organization and have a

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subscription of at least three or six or twelve months (Telecomitalia.com 2018). Therefore,
the “satisfaction of the needs as well as the requirements of the customers” becomes of
paramount significance (Sigala, Christou and Gretzel 2012). However, a recent survey
indicates that most of the existing customers of the concerned business organization are
satisfied with the services provided by the company concerned and have given the company a
very high rating based on the quality of the services provided by them (Telecomitalia.com
2018). This it can be said that customer satisfaction forms one of the key points of the
company under consideration here.
Proposed objectives (for one year)
The proposed for the company for the upcoming one year will be to expand its
business all over the nation of Italy and also to enhance its customer base in a significant
manner. The company currently is facing a significant amount of competition from its various
other competitors in the same industry and with the introduction of latest technology as well
as innovations the business of the concerned business organization has got affected in a
significant manner (Kirchmer 2012). Therefore, in the next one year the company should
focus on the expansion of its business in a significant manner by outrivaling its existing
competitors within the same industry and also to increase the number of customers which it
currently has.
Proposed plan (for one year)
The company can enhance its current business and also the number which it currently
has by taking the help of effective marketing strategies. This can be done by taking the help
of the various platforms offered by the electronic media (He, Zha and Li 2013). The company
should try to enhance its presence over the social media and also other means of promotion
over the social media (He, Zha and Li 2013). It is significant to note that in the present times

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the various platforms of the social media has emerged as one of the most popular mediums of
promotion and thus the various companies often take the help of the platforms offered by the
social media to reach out to a greater number of people (Ribarsky, Wang and Dou 2014). It
is to be noted that “in the present times the various customers get influenced by the reviews
as well as the promotions which the various companies post over the social media”
(Ribarsky, Wang and Dou 2014). Therefore, the company under discussion here should
enhance its presence over the social media in a bid to improve its prospects and also to
achieve the desired goals set by it (Ribarsky, Wang and Dou 2014). This will require the
company to create brand pages and also various official pages related to the company where
the various customers will be able to know about the services provided by the company and
will also be able to compare the services as well as the prices of the services offered by the
company with the services as well as the prices offered by the other companies or the
business organizations (Ribarsky, Wang and Dou 2014). The company can also take the help
of the various social media like Facebook, Twitter and others (Teixeira et al. 2012). In
addition to this, the company can also take the help of the various promotional events to
promote the services offered by them (McGrath 2013).
Budget
The budget incurred by the company will be very nominal as the various social media
platforms are free of cost and the only cost that the company will have to bear is the cost of
the internet and other resources which will be required for the creation for the web pages
necessary to promote the various services provided by the company (McGrath 2013). The
company can also take the help of the various newspapers as well as the digital forms of
advertisements (Schilke 2014). However, this is likely to cost the company a significant

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amount of money as the cost of advertising in the digital platforms is very high (Schilke
2014).
Corrective measures
The company in a bid to enhance its prospects can take the help of various measures
like taking the help of various platforms offered by the social media. The company can also
take the help of advertisements to reach out to a larger number people. Furthermore, to
reduce the amount of competition faced by it the company can also take the help of the recent
innovations as well as technologies. This will help the company under discussion to reach out
to a larger number of customers and a chance to increase the amount of profit gained by it.
Conclusion
To conclude, the various business organizations in the present times face a greater
amount of competition in the business market. This is generally considered to be a reflection
of the concept of globalization and the advancement in the field of technology as well as
innovation. It is significant “to note that the various business organizations in the present
times” take the help of the various marketing analysis tools to analyze the level of
competition faced by them and also to devise effective strategies for the mitigation of the
competition faced by them. Moreover, another trend which is commonly seen among the
various business organizations is that they tend to take the help of the various platforms
offered by the social media in a bid to reach out to a greater number of people.

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References
Barney, J.B., 2014. Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Pearson higher ed.
Best, R., 2012. Market-based management. Pearson Higher Ed.
Campbell, B.A., Coff, R. and Kryscynski, D., 2012. Rethinking sustained competitive
advantage from human capital. Academy of Management Review, 37(3), pp.376-395.
Forbes.com. 2018. Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/companies/telecom-italia/ [Accessed 13 Apr. 2018].
He, W., Zha, S. and Li, L., 2013. Social media competitive analysis and text mining: A case
study in the pizza industry. International Journal of Information Management, 33(3), pp.464-
472.
Kirchmer, M., 2012. Business process oriented implementation of standard software: how to
achieve competitive advantage efficiently and effectively. Springer Science & Business
Media.
McGrath, R.G., 2013. The end of competitive advantage: How to keep your strategy moving
as fast as your business. Harvard Business Review Press.
Ribarsky, W., Wang, D.X. and Dou, W., 2014. Social media analytics for competitive
advantage. Computers & Graphics, 38, pp.328-331.
Saeidi, S.P., Sofian, S., Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S.P. and Saaeidi, S.A., 2015. How does corporate
social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of
competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Business
Research, 68(2), pp.341-350.

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Schilke, O., 2014. On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage:
The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism. Strategic management
journal, 35(2), pp.179-203.
Sigala, M., Christou, E. and Gretzel, U. eds., 2012. Social media in travel, tourism and
hospitality: Theory, practice and cases. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..
Teixeira, J., Patrício, L., Nunes, N.J., Nóbrega, L., Fisk, R.P. and Constantine, L., 2012.
Customer experience modeling: from customer experience to service design. Journal of
Service Management, 23(3), pp.362-376.
Telecomitalia.com 2018. Telecomitalia.com [online] Available at:
http://www.telecomitalia.com/tit/en.html. [Accessed 13 Apr. 2018
Wagner III, J.A. and Hollenbeck, J.R., 2014. Organizational behavior: Securing competitive
advantage. Routledge.