HI6006 - Competitive Strategy Analysis of Sydney Symphony Orchestra

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's competitive strategy. It begins with an overview of the music industry in Australia and then uses PESTLE and Porter's Five Forces models to assess the external environment, identifying opportunities and threats. The report then delves into an internal analysis, examining the company's tangible and intangible resources, capabilities, and core competencies through a value chain analysis. It assesses the company's current generic strategy, including its market penetration and development strategies using the Ansoff matrix. The report concludes with recommendations for future strategies, including product development and promotion strategies, to enhance profitability and market position, emphasizing the importance of leveraging digital technology and collaborations.

Competitive strategy

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 1
Executive Summary
The main aim of this paper is to analyse the strategy of an organisation. In this report, Sydney
symphony orchestra has been taken into consideration to analyse the strategies of the
company. With the help of different strategic analysis models, the general environment of the
company will be analysed to identify the strength and weakness of the company. Business
strategy and the others strategies are used by the company to achieve the objective. Although
the company has high brand value but it has to implement some new strategies such as
product development and promotion strategy; so that the company can earn high profit. The
company will achieve the success in the near future.
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Contents
Part A.....................................................................................................................................................3
Overview...........................................................................................................................................3
Industry.............................................................................................................................................3
General Environment.........................................................................................................................4
PESTLE Analysis..........................................................................................................................4
Porter’s five forces model..............................................................................................................4
Competitive environment..................................................................................................................5
Opportunity and threat.......................................................................................................................5
Part B.....................................................................................................................................................5
Strength and Weakness......................................................................................................................5
Tangible and Intangible resources.....................................................................................................6
Tangible Resources........................................................................................................................6
Intangible Resources......................................................................................................................6
Capabilities........................................................................................................................................7
Core competency...............................................................................................................................7
Value chain analysis..........................................................................................................................8
Current Analysis................................................................................................................................8
ANSOF matrix..................................................................................................................................9
Integration strategy......................................................................................................................10
Formal Strategy...........................................................................................................................10
Recommendations...........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................11
References...........................................................................................................................................12
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 3
Part A
Overview
Business strategy is a plan to achieve the specific goals and objective of the company. The
strategic plan succeeds when the company leads to business growth and achieves the high
market position over the competitors. For making the strategy the company has to analyse the
environment of the company (Tang, and Hu, 2018). External and internal analysis helps to
identify the strength and weakness of the company. With the help of SWOT, PESTLE
analysis and Porters five forces framework, the company can easily analyse the environment
and make the business strategy to grab high market share and achieve the objective of the
company.
In this report, the case of Sydney Symphony Orchestra is taken into consideration to analyse
the internal and external environment to make decide business strategy for the company.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra in Australia, it was founded in 1908.
The group of musicians came together to form an orchestra. It performs 150 concerts around
a year and more than 350,000 people came to enjoy its music. Its regular concerts are
performed at the Sydney Opera House.
Industry
It is a music industry in Australia. Australia has an extensive history in the music society. At
the beginning of the report, external analysis has been done to analyse the threat and
opportunity for the company. After that, the internal analysis will be discussed to analyse the
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 4
tangible and intangible resources. On the basis of the analysis, one strategy has been
recommended for future growth, at the end of the report.
General Environment
PESTLE Analysis
It has been seen that the Australian government supports the classical music by funding it
through the Australian council. The per capita income of Sydney is good; so it can be said
that the Sydney people can easily spend money on these musical concerts. There are more
young people living in Sydney which is a challenge for the firm because young people are not
attracted towards the traditional music. The new technology has a negative impact because an
individual can easily steal the music without paying and youth is also getting attracted
towards YouTube and many other applications. Socio-cultural and demographic
environments are strongly linked with the symphony in Sydney. Sydney has a high
population of over 4.5 million individual (Rastogi,. and Trivedi, 2016).
Porter’s five forces model
It has been seen that the new entrants have high threat to enter into the market and gain the
existing market share. Product differentiation is an important step for SSO in terms of the
standard because there are many music companies but SSO is the better in terms of first-rate
musicians. Thus, it has minimum competitors but online music video; pop concerts beat the
company in competition. The company has a high threat of substitute because there are many
substitutes available such as pop concerts, music video or websites providing music for free
of cost or less expensive as compared to attending the orchestra. The power of suppliers
affects the firm by increasing the cost of instruments and venues that may reduce the
profitability (Allen, Garst, Bowers, and Onyiko, 2018).
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 5
Competitive environment
There are many competitors of the firm which provide the same kind of music such as the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Buyers or listener can easily access the music from different
types of live music without any cost or less cost. On the opposite side, it can be said that the
SSO has its high quality and unique experience which cannot be easily substituted. SSO takes
the competitive advantage by providing the affordable tickets, good hiring policy and by
continuously performing in the concerts (Chen, Tribbitt, Yang, and Li, 2017).
Opportunity and threat
Digital technology provides an opportunity for the orchestra to target the new audience.
Collaboration with other companies is an opportunity for the company to earn more profit
and promote their music through concerts. Listeners have more options to listen to music
from different types of music such as pop concerts and others. Wider choices for audiences
create the high threat for the company.
Part B
Strength and Weakness
Employees are the strength of the company; the company has major professional musicians
and administrators. Internationally renowned soloists and guest conductor come to Australia
on a regular basis which is also beneficial for the company in term of profitability. It is
difficult for the company to attract the younger and new audiences due to changing taste of
the audiences. Lack of digital and new technology is a weakness factor for the company (Bull
et al., 2016).
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 6
Tangible and Intangible resources
Tangible Resources
Human resources
It has been seen that the human resources are the best assets for the company. The company
have major professional musicians and administrators which are well known in the country. It
had 2800 employees in 2016 and it is expected that it is growing in the upcoming future. It
also provides the training to the young artist (Barney, 2017).
Financial Resources
It has been found that the government of Australia supports the company by providing the
fund due to which the company enjoys the success in the market as compared to the others.
The company earned AUD 184,083 annual revenue in a year. Due to the good reputation; the
government support the company via funding.
Assets
Music instruments are the assets of the company; the musical instruments of the company is
highly expensive than the others. The company has many cultural similarities with Australia
in terms of classical music which is effective for the company.
Intangible Resources
Reputation and goodwill
Sydney Symphony attained the title as Australia’s most popular music concerts. It has been
seen that it is the fastest growing firm in Australia in the music industry which increases its
brand value thrice as compared to the other companies (Pearson, Pitfield, and Ryley, 2015).
Brand image
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 7
The company has a big name in the music industry which enhances the brand image and
brand loyalty. From the analysis, it can be said that the company has a strong brand value
which is evaluated by the Brand Finance tool. Higher satisfaction of audiences and loyalty
shows the brand value of SSO. It is an old firm which attracts the audience because it is
familiar to the audience (Michaelis,. and Markham, 2017).
Capabilities
Sydney symphony orchestra has the capability of regular concerts and international network.
The company does regular touring at the international level. International guests want to
attend on a regular basis just because of Orchestra. Orchestra and the regular concerts are the
capabilities of the company.
Core competency
The core competency of the company is measured with the help of a test. With the
developing economy, audience demand for the old orchestra is increasing which has a
positive impact on the company revenue. The first test of core competency is a competitive
advantage. It has been seen that the company take the advantage of its low prices because its
concerts tickets are affordable for the audience although it is expensive from the other
different types of music such as a pop concert. It can be said that the company clears the first
test. Classical music is a global form of music with the orchestra in many countries; it
increases the demand of the company but new technology attracts the Youngers towards the
pop concerts and lives music video.
High demand for international visitor helps the company to grab the market share. The
company fulfils the second test which is a high market share. It has been seen that the
company achieved higher competitive advantage by providing the high quality of music in
the affordable prices. Good quality of music creates higher threat for the new entrants as well
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 8
as for the other company. It shows that the company beats the competitors by providing the
global music. It fulfils the fourth test requirement that is a high-quality product (Yunna, and
Yisheng, 2014).
Value chain analysis
Inbound
Logistics
Operations Outbound
logistics
Marketing and
Sales
Services
Musician and
Employees
Operations in
Australia
Events and
Concerts
Organising live
concerts
Entertain the
Audience
Current Analysis
Generic strategy
The company follows the generic strategy because it expends the business by moving into
more countries. It has been seen that the Sydney symphony orchestra promotes its music by
organising live concerts at the international level on a regular basis. It helps the company to
promote its music and increases its revenue by increasing the demand of the older audiences.
Competitive strategy
8
supporting
activities
Human
Resources
major
professionals
in music
Supporting
Activities Funds
Government
provides the
Fund
Supporting
Activities Infrastructure
Finance and
other
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 9
From the above analysis, it has been seen that the selling the services at the lower prices
attracts the audience towards the music of the company. The tickets of the company are
affordable for the Australians, it can be said that the older audiences are attracted towards the
music of the company. It has got major professionals in music which provides the higher
quality music to the audience. It makes its music different as compare to its competitors.
ANSOF matrix
Market penetration
Market penetration strategy helps the company to grow in the market. Sydney symphony
orchestra uses the promotion strategy; it organises the concert in many countries which
increases the demand of the audience towards its classical music. It also uses the price
strategy; the people of Sydney can easily afford the ticket of its concerts. Its prices attract the
audiences as compared to the others concerts like pop concerts. In this way SSO is
penetrating the music market in Australia as well as in other nations.
Market Development
It has been seen that SSO organises the concerts in many countries; it is a strategy of the
company to target the foreign markets and earn higher revenue. Different people have
different taste; the company operates in many countries and targets the different customer
segments. It is a strategy of the company to target the different types of customer for market
development.
Diversification
Classical concerts are not the same as pop concerts, it is a cultural characterised by self-
consciousness in which people dress fairly and during the music people are quiet even in the
key moment which is extremely well. At the end of the concert, they only clap; this pattern of
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SSO is very different from the others. It helps the company to diversify the quality of music
and makes its music concerts different from others. Adopting a new pattern is a risk for the
company but it achieves the success (Vignali, 2015).
Integration strategy
It has been analysed that the company has control over its distributors, the company organises
its events in Europe. The company signs the contract with the Emirates as a principal partner.
Part of emirates discounted the airfares to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for its tour of the
summer festival of Europe (Molle, 2017). This move presents the integration strategy of SSO.
Formal Strategy
It has been seen that the company follow the Formal strategy; this strategy helps the company
to achieve market leverage from some factors such as its iconic artist leadership, it has
financial support and others.
Recommendations
Product strategy
From the analysis, it can be said that the company has to create a new pattern with which
people should get attracted towards its music like it can mix their music with the western
music so that it can easily attract the Younger audiences. It has been seen that the Younger
people spend more on their entertainment hence, it can be said that the company has a benefit
in adopting the new pattern and change in their music. This will further help the company in
enhancing its customer base.
Promotion strategy
The company has to promote its music more and more on so that people spend more money
on their concerts. With the developing economy, the company also has to adopt the new
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technology with which it can promote its music at the international level. It has to upload this
video on the social sites like YouTube, Instagram and others. With the single click, it can
send its music to the millions of people. This strategy creates the interest among the audience
to enjoy the live concerts. It will help the company in earning more revenue and profitability.
New technology helps to save the transportation cost as well as the promotion cost. SSO
needs to be more active on social media.
Merger and Acquisitions strategy
The company has to merge with event Management Company; which helps the company to
provide the events in which they can perform and expand its business at a higher level. These
events help the company in promoting its music at the higher level. It can also work for the
other companies like for radio stations channels, websites, and others. It can also use its
music in advertisements; the companies may use its title song for every new product. The
company can take advantage of this and sign the contracts with the other companies for
advertisements. It will help the company to grab high market share and earn the highest
revenue among the competitors (Peng, 2017).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it has been concluded that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is a
music company that has the first-class support of government but it also has a threat of new
technology. The company has a substitute like a live music video and pop concerts and many
more. It has an opportunity to expand the business at the higher level through new technology
and implementing new strategies. It has major professional musician which are the strength
as well as the tangible asset for the company. It is a well-known company of music in
Australia, it operates in many countries and it has a high brand value which is an intangible
resource for the company. The company has the capability of operating in many countries or
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it can be said that the company has the high distribution channel. The company followed
many strategies and achieved the high market share. But it has to implement the new strategy
to reduce the challenges and earn the high revenue like product development, promotion and
merger strategies. The company will grow in the near future.
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