Global Marketing Strategies of Tech Mahindra-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Develop a Strategy for A Global Challenger from an Emerging Market. Answer: Introduction The report describes global marketing strategies of Tech Mahindra, the various reasons for its success and the ways by which it gains competitive advantages over others. The report also discusses the threats and opportunities faced by this company as an emerging global leader in global markets. It also deals with the recommendations to provide the company a path to become a leader in the global arena. A brief overview of Tech Mahindra Tech Mahindra Limited is an Indian multinational company founded by Anand Mahindra (Techmahindra.com, 2017). It is a subsidiary of its parent company Mahindra Group. It provides services in information technology, networking technology and business process outsourcing to the telecommunications industry. The headquarters of Tech Mahindra is located at Pune, India (Techmahindra.com, 2017). It has been included in the Forbes list of Fab 50 Asian companies. It provides services to the clients listed in Fortune 500 Companies. On 25 June 2013, it merged with another big organization Satyam Computer Services and became Mahindra Satyam (Techmahindra.com, 2017). It does not follow the conventional way of thinking and doing business. It believes in the constant innovation of new ideas. Some of their competitors are IBM Wipro Technologies TATA Consultancy Services Infosys Mphasis Polaris Mindtree The various sectors in which the company operates are Logistics, Travel, and Transportation Entertainment, Media, and Technology Sports Consumer and Retail Government and Public Sector Manufacturing Life Sciences and Healthcare Utilities and Energy Communication Insurance, Financial Services and Banking (Techmahindra.com, 2017) Reasons for choosing Tech Mahindra for research The journey of Tech Mahindra from being nothing to becoming as one of the leading telecom service providers of the world has been inspiring. The growth of Tech Mahindra has been significant on several fronts since its establishment (Rani and Joshi, 2012). Their journey is an example of excellent hard work and dedication. Their innovative thinking, developing end-to-end solutions for telecom operators, acquiring businesses and expanding worldwide are the key factors leading the company to become a global leader (Kar and Misra, 2013). As it started as a joint venture with British Telecom in 1986, it has a longstanding relationship with BT, which has given them immense exposure in the European markets. The company is growing rapidly in North America with clients like ATT. It is also rapidly expanding in Asia-Pacific region with clients in countries like Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia (Cantwell et al. 2010). They have expanded their client base in almost all sectors o f telecommunication. Their client list includes telecommunications service providers (TSPs), telecommunication equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and independent software vendors (ISVs). Their services now range from applications development and maintenance, solution integration, product engineering and life cycle management, testing at higher end to higher value-added offerings such as consulting, managed platforms and managed services (Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, 2010). Their awards and achievements on various sectors are also inspiring. It has received multiple awards and recognition for the excellence in testing services in the global platform and for their excellent client delivery. Some of the awards and recognitions of Tech Mahindra includes the following It has become the first Indian Information Technology company in the world to achieve the prestigious certification of TMMi level 5 for its Global Test Factory.It has been ranked the top Telecom Software Company for the year 2010-11 by Voice Data.It is the winner of CMO Asia- Best CIO Award for Use of IT for a Social cause.It is the winner of CMO Asia- Best CIO Award for Best use of CSR practices in IT industryTops the 2011 Global Services 100 in the following categories:Global ITO Vendors.ADM Vendors.IM Vendors.Specialty Product Engineering Vendors.Contact Center and Customer Management Vendors. (Techmahindra.com, 2017) Marketing focus and Marketing Mix strategies of Tech Mahindra The 7ps of marketing mix analyses the company and provides an idea of the marketing focus and business strategies followed by Tech Mahindra. Product: There is a huge range of products and services offered by Tech Mahindra to the clients. Their services spread across industries like Health Care, Media, and Entertainment, Banking and Finances, Automotive, Manufacturing, Retail, Public Services, travel and logistics (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). These services are divided into three categories 1) Services and Solutions This division of Tech Mahindra provides a vast range of solutions. These are Next-Generation Solutions Testing Risk Management and Enterprise Security Product Lifecycle Management Performance Engineering Network Services Mobility Solutions Infrastructure Management services Integrated Engineering Solutions Enterprises of Future Enterprises Business solutions DevOps Enterprise Architecture Customer eXperience Consulting ADMS Java and Open Source (Bhasin, 2017) 2) Platforms Platform division has many platforms to offer to their customers to carry on with their work without any difficulty. These platforms are - Epsilon Order Management system mEMS Managed Data Service Cloud Aggregation Platform Wealth and Retirement Cost Control and Field Quality PRISM Smart Offers UNO-Robotic Process Automation Socio CareX (Bhasin, 2017) 3) Outsourcing Outsourcing is done by business service groups. These groups provide many value added services to customers (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). Place: Tech Mahindra provides its services to nearly 50 countries around the world, without facing any difficulty with the use of latest technologies (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). It has a Pan-India presence, that is, it operates throughout the nation. It has offices in Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Chennai, Bengaluru and Chandigarh in India. In the Asia-Pacific region, it has offices in countries like China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In America, it has offices in Brazil, Mexico, Canada and the United States. Is also operates in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany in Europe, Zambia and Nigeria in Africa, Qatar in the Middle East and Australia (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). It has established several global development centers in Malaysia and Australia. It has a distribution of network across ninety global countries. The company has developed infrastructure and human resources at all these places depending on the requirement and the work culture, to service local and foreign clients as well (Bhasin, 2017). Price: There are different pricing strategies of Tech Mahindra, for its huge client base across the different industries (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). Their pricing mechanism is dependent on various factors. The common thing in all these pricing mechanisms is that they offer flexibility to clients, that is, the clients can choose and pay for only the things that they need. They are always clear with the amount of money they will charge for a particular project. The basic factors that influence the pricing are the complexity of the work, the technology used, the time required and the number of employees required to complete the project (Bhasin, 2017). Tech Mahindra uses the Pay-as-you-go model of pricing. This is one of the main reasons for the success of the company. In this model, clients are at the lowest risk zone; since they can pay as the work progresses in the different stages of development and there is no need to pay at one goes (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). T hey are their strategy for pricing in its marketing mix. Process: Tech Mahindra has invented several strategies for its business and customer care. One of the famous strategies formulated by this company is DAVID, to help it in its future works (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). The acronym DAVID stands for digitalization, automation, verticalization, innovation, and disruption. The company is applying this formula in each of its processes. Digitalization refers to changing the company from information technology to digital technology by using this in all processes (Bhasin, 2017). Automation is creating a connection between human and machines for increasing the excellence in work. Verticalization is the process of developing and delivering services that are relevant to the customer requirements. Innovation is creating a work environment that encourages people to co-work and bring out their creativity (Bhasin, 2017). Disruption refers to creating new possibilities for the organization by being flexible and changing with the upcoming tech nologies (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). Promotion: In its marketing mix, Tech Mahindra uses various kinds of promotion for increasing its brand popularity and awareness among industries and prospective clients (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). It is involved in social activities like promoting school education among poor children, providing various employments to the needy and providing technical education for the underprivileged. The public relations team of the company promotes all these activities. They also promote the awards and recognitions received by the company through press conferences, news, and magazines (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). People: Tech Mahindra has a large employee base with 1,17,000 people working around the globe in various locations. They mainly recruit young and fresh people from various institutions and train them before putting them to work (Bhasin, 2017). Training is given in all areas requiring development including behavioral and distance training. Managers evaluate and appraise them based on their performances. Bodhivruksha is the in-house development center of Tech Mahindra. They also conduct E-Lab programs and other leadership and customer-centric training programs (Bhasin, 2017). When they introduce new technologies like loT, Blockchain and so on, they train their employees on the usage making the processes simpler to learn. Physical Evidence: The new tagline of Tech Mahindra is connected world. Connected experiences (MBA Skool-Study.Learn.Share., 2017). This tagline perfectly matches with their aim of creating a hyper-connected world. The logo also promotes this tagline. The Tech of Tech Mahindra is in gray color ad Mahindra in red. It also releases evidence in the form of financial statements and investor presentations that contain information on the performance of the company and its future strategies (Bhasin, 2017). Reasons for success of Tech Mahindra Evolution of technology has many turning points in the world history. The technological boom that people are experiencing now has been through various difficulties. It was a great deal to bring technological revolution to India, which is a developing country. The path to victory proved to be very rocky (Tarique and Schuler, 2010). Previously Tech Mahindras name was Mahindra-British telecom, since it started its operations as a joint venture with British Telecom in the year 1986. Before that, the company was dealing with manufacturing, automobile, and steel. At that time, even thinking of IT was an impossible venture. Companies like TCS, Wipro, and Infosys were also emerging as successful giants in information technology (Boddy et al. 2010). In these adverse situations, the main motto of Tech Mahindra was to break the conventional rules and search for new ideas and strategies to excel in telecommunication and IT in a country like India and with competitors like TCS, Wipro, Infosys (Bird et al. 2010). Through hard work and innovative strategies, the company not only emerged as a giant in its field in India but also expanded its business worldwide. In the year 1995, it opened its office in the UK and in 2001 expanded its business to Germany. In 2005 Mahindra-BT, it became the eighth largest software exporter in India (Kalathil and Boas, 2010). In 2006, the company became Tech Mahindra. It became one of the leading companies in the IT field when it acquired Satyam Computers in 2009. Satyam Computers was going through a very bad phase at that time. It had huge financial losses and was at an all time low. Tech Mahindra quickly jumped into the opportunity. The company hit big when it became the official IT sponsor and partner of the FIFA world cup in 2010. They got huge global recognition and earned assets worth the US $ 1 billion. Philosophy of Rising The philosophy adopted by the company for its success is the philosophy of Rising (Techmahindra.com, 2017). The rise is a word that describes Mahindra group as unconventional thinkers and individuals who work relentlessly to offer new solutions. According to this philosophy, businesses should always focus on creating new strategies, discarding the conventional ones, which helps to gain the competitive advantage over parallel competitors. The three pillars of their philosophy are- Accepting no Limits Mahindra is such a company, which accepts no limits. Their thinking goes beyond the conventional boundaries. Their employees are also encouraged and trained to be flexible and take risks. This helps the company to innovate breakthrough products, services, and solutions, which are better than the global standards (Techmahindra.com, 2017). Alternative thinking The company encourages employees in alternative thinking and innovating new ideas in their day-to-day work. A person who is creative and brings out fresh alternative ideas that are beneficial for customers and stakeholders receives rewards from the company (Techmahindra.com, 2017). Driving positive change They help their customers to Rise by driving positive change in their work culture. The company understands the needs of the customers accurately, delivery solution, which is relevant to their case, and helps to improve their lives. They also work towards building a strong integral relationship with their customers, driven by ethics (Techmahindra.com, 2017). The success of Tech Mahindra is a proof the effectiveness of following this philosophy. Now the company is operating in more than 51 countries with more than 600 clients. The company grew to 14% in the second half of 2014. The growth and success of Tech Mahindra is an appropriate example of how hard work and determination pays off. Challenges faced by Tech Mahindra at international markets Global Economy Risk Tech Mahindras export revenues are over 95%, of which, 47% comes from the US, 29% from Europe and 24% comes from rest of the world. The economic growth of these nations directly affects the revenue of TechM, since it decides the amount a customer can spend on IT. The slowdown of these economies results in the drop of investment on IT as a natural consequence. Hence, the growth of Tech Mahindra also slows down (Anon, 2017). Regulatory Changes Risk The company operates in over 90 countries with employees spreading out everywhere with extended and short-term visas. The profitability and growth are highly affected if the immigration laws or the local regulations changes (Anon, 2017). MA Integration Risk The company has a strategy of acquiring businesses known as MA Integration strategy. Under this program, the company has acquired several companies in the past two years in various countries. This can cause a high risk to the company if the cultural and financial differences are not integrated (Anon, 2017). Competition Risk Tech Mahindra faces competition both inside India and in the global market from local IT companies and from MNCs. The competitions can be on the pricing (prices offered by other competitors is less for the same product), customer relationship (Competitors have strong bonding with customers), financial resources (Competitors have immense funding resources). Matching with this competition leads to cut on pricing thus affecting the companys profitability (Anon, 2017). Technology Risk Digitalization is now the new revolution in the innovation of new technology. This has affected the delivery model and the customer spending pattern hugely all over the world. This trend poses a great risk since discarding of outdated technologies leads to huge financial changes and investments. These investments either increases the profitability of the organization or become the cause of humongous loss (Anon, 2017). Currency Risks The exchange rate of GBP, AUD, USD and Euro has fluctuated tremendously in the past few years and is believed to fluctuate in the future. As these are the main billing currencies of Tech Mahindra, this causes great fluctuation in revenues of the company as well as ForEx gains and losses. The profitability of the company is also affected by these adverse currency effects (Anon, 2017). Human Resources Risk Human resources mainly drive information technology. As Tech Mahindra operates in most parts of the world, finding relevant talent pool for in global market catering to the market trends and work culture is a difficult task for the organization. Inability to find talented people adversely affects the productivity of the company (Anon, 2017). Risks due to climate change Fuel and energy taxes The National Action Plan on climate change also known as NAPCC targets industries like steel, chemical, paper as a mission to achieve greater energy efficiency. Though IT industries fall out of this program, there is a risk that IT industries might also come under the scanning (Techmahindra.com, 2017). Risks related to weather changes The precipitation patterns of India are changing rapidly causing extreme precipitation and floods. These are the causes of water-borne diseases, posing a risk to the employees by affecting their health and daily lives. The affected employees are unable to report to work adversely affecting the productivity of the company (Techmahindra.com, 2017). Natural Disasters The operating units of Tech Mahindra that are located in coastal areas are at a gets affected by the rise in sea levels. The areas affected by this natural disaster are a risk to the company since the employees reporting in these areas need evacuation affecting work and growth of the company (Techmahindra.com, 2017). Opportunities of Tech Mahindra in Global market Worldwide consumer packaged food (CPG) companies are now focusing on the use of digital and integrated marketing. They have realized that marketing of their brands gets more effective by use of digitalization. Hence, more and more CPG companies from around the globe are now integrating digital marketing fully. This leads to the increase in revenue of Tech Mahindra as their sale of digital marketing products are going up day by day. The retail market has been greatly affected by internet, social media and mobility. Consumers are now continuously searching for instant information and a smooth experience while shopping inline. Hence, the demand and supply cycle is becoming shorter. It is giving rise to opportunities to develop services for the retail industry, like managing the availability of stocks by consolidated methods and rationalization, balancing the demand and supply cycle and so on. Tech Mahindra has a diverse range of retail management solutions. TechM customizes the solutions according to the customer need. The company has been constantly collaborating with the retail industry leaders, in various segments like fashion, food and grocery, specialty retail, merchandising and so on. Healthcare industry is another global sector, which is adopting digitalization very fast. Tech Mahindra has increased its opportunities to expand in the healthcare industry by announcing the acquisition of the CJS solutions group LLC, which is a US-based healthcare information Technology Company, famously known as HCI group. This acquisition will not only enhance the brand value of Tech Mahindra as healthcare service providers but will also help them to specialize in this field through EMR implementation. Recommendations for building competitive advantage Tech Mahindra is one of the leading telecom companies in the world. To build and maintain its competitive advantage, this company needs to focus on certain recommendations relevant to certain areas (Koren, 2010). The main area of concern is their advertisement techniques, which is the main component of promotion within the marketing mix. The main motto of advertising is to increase the brand value, attract customers, increase demand and hence increase the sales (Cohen, 2010). Tech Mahindra should follow the recommendations on promotion given below for gaining competitive advantage. Tech Mahindra needs more display and advertisement of their success as a telecom service provider. It can highlight positive points on its success in North America and Europe achieved by servicing large operators. As the competition is becoming more vigorous day by day, Mahindra needs to be more alert and needs to demonstrate their commitment toward the telecom operators. A powerful demonstration of evidence of their service and the views of satisfied customers are a proof of its success and commitment (Cappelli, 2010). It should demonstrate their end-to-end solutions to telecom operators in details. The company has optimized network to a different level. It gives wireless access through mobile core into the IP/Transport domain. Tech Mahindra needs to demonstrate on these points, which can help it in gaining the advantage over equipment provider specialists who focus on only certain portions of the network. This increases the brand value of the company, and helps to gain the competitive advantage over companies like Ericson, NSN and so on (Jogulu, 2010). The company should also promote its cooperation mentality by giving examples of outsourcing. As for example, it has outsourced its RD to the third party. Tech Mahindras mentality of cooperation always comes in favor of the company, as it needs to work with telecom specialists to develop products and become partners for integration. This doubles their value as specialist service providers to telecom operators, other than just being visible as simple IT consultants (Watson et al. 2010). Verticals are an important emerging area of telecom service providers. Hence, TechM should demonstrate on how its merger with Mahindra Satyam has enlarged its vertical markets for telecom related services. This is a great point for attaining competitive advantage since when telecom equipment providers are working hard to make a mark for themselves, TechMs visibility in vertical markets brings them huge sales opportunities. Mahindra can become the undefeated leader in telecom services if it can demonstrate properly the usage its telecom services to maximum advantage in vertical markets (Taras et al. 2010). Tech Mahindra should focus on increasing its customer base through acquiring new market opportunities and territories. This reduces their dependence on key customers for revenue generation along with increasing the revenue (Ramrez et al. 2010) Conclusion Creating and managing changes and adapting to them are now the key focus for the organizations, global leaders. Organizations are always identifying strategies to understand client needs better, customizing their products and services according to demand and expanding into new markets locally and globally. The constantly changing internal and external factors are complicating the situations and increasing competitions. This forces the leaders to respond to a situation quickly and managing the situations quickly, innovatively and effectively. To grow business leaders are also compelled to develop new products, services, and solutions, which helps them to gain competitive advantage. Innovation is one of the biggest challenges in the time of crisis. It becomes more complicated when the requirement spreads across different nations and cultures. The finding of cultural preferences helps the leaders to identify the methods of working in that area. As a result, leaders adapts easily to the work culture, which positively affects their growth. Leaders can increase global team effectiveness by conducting cross-cultural training and making the employees ready to adapt to the new working environment. Tech Mahindra has successfully emerged as a global leader in telecommunications industry through innovation, hard work, and dedication. The key factors for their huge success are their significant exposure to local and global telecom markets, their ability to compete effectively, acquiring and integrating companies, and their ability to recruit highly qualified IT professionals and so on. 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