Strategic Review Individual Management Report Facebook

Facebook Company

Facebook has been one of the famous social network platforms with international coverage of users. Since it began in 2004, the company has increased its influence in the market of individual users and various companies. The profile and the fun page give users different activities to be linked with the organization. The company is faced with significant social and political challenges. For instance, some nations have banned the use of Facebook in their country. On the other hand, it is ranked as one of the competitive job providers in the world. People can secure personal employment and target business opportunities from other organizations. Facebook needs to identify the necessary steps to increase its performance in the future. The recommendations include increasing the number of users in various countries, extend Facebook operations in business sectors, and further incorporate social media in various sectors of the economy. Additionally, introducing new content will be considered an effective step in the increase of its users’ number. The firm can strengthen the relationship with its customers, introducing applications that can be used by most devices; hence, increasing its market share.

Introduction

Facebook Company is a social platform that was developed to connect people, share ideas, and information from different parts of the world. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Andrew McCollum launched the company in 2004 (Roosendaal 2012, p. 15). The firm has developed from a simple website to an advanced interactive platform with over three million users. The corporation has become the most popular and fastest-growing business with a large number of data users. Facebook has two main strategies that are used for interaction. The first one is a Facebook profile that contains the personal information page and offers individual logging and interaction. The second aspect is a Facebook page that is used for businesses and organizations to provide interaction and various business-oriented activities. The people who follow and join the Facebook profile page intended for personal use are usually referred to as friends. On the other hand, the users who follow business pages are termed as fans.

Facebook has provided a perfect ground for many organizations and individuals to connect with the rest of the world. Moreover, considering a large number of people using the platform, it has become a stable ground to initiate various activities and advocate for new ideas. Facebook has increased the business management and marketing sector. Facebook is the largest social media as compared to Twitter, Instagram, and Yahoo. The firm has recorded a value of $104 billion since its initial public offering in 2012 (Allmer 2014, p. 41). The organization has over a hundred thousand business pages that allow other companies to interact, promote themselves, and attract customers. Moreover, the company has about seven hundred employees. Facebook has developed its comparative market to have more security shares than other firms. For instance, Microsoft Corp invested $240 million to increase the total market shares (Lewis 2010, p. 10). Facebook competitors such as Google, Twitter, and other social networks do not match the fast-growing Internet user company. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has justified that Facebook presents an enormous opportunity for online activities than its competitors. Therefore, it is gaining even more popularity among different people and businesses.

Facebook Environmental Audit

Facebook represents a larger environment of operation. Thus, the organization audit provides a broad scope of how Facebook relates to the economic situation and other externalities that determine its performance. The company offers a platform for over three million users from different backgrounds. The users bring different cultures and activities that can affect the performance of the company. However, the environmental audit addresses various benefits derived from the wide target population, as well as the threats that the organization can avoid. The company business pages foster marketing and advertisement opportunities to overcome business difficulties and challenges. Despite serious competition, Facebook has managed to maintain its position. There are threats caused by the diverse consumer targeted by the organization. It provides people from different cultures and customs with the opportunity to build a market image.

Environmental Force

Facebook has provided various economic development opportunities. It has been acknowledged as the leading job creator. People have used the platform to market their ideas and find a consumer for their products. By using the Facebook platform, the organization is capable of identifying the target market and creating awareness. The social media sector has attracted a massive economic investment providing Facebook with a large market share and growing commercial stands.

Technology Force

The development and advancement of technology have been linked to the growth of Facebook. People can assess Facebook through the availability of technological gadgets such as computers, mobile phones, and search engine operators. Technology advancement within society has brought enlightenment and increased the number of Facebook users. Facebook is directly correlated with technology improvement and availability. The popularity of Facebook has increased due to fast progress in gadgets (Bartling & Friesike 2014).

Facebook SWOT Analysis

Strength

Strengths of a company are the resources applied to gain a competitive advantage over other firms. The customer base is another advantage. The company has over one billion users and is a global platform with over seventy languages that make it more interactive. The main strength of Facebook is the ability to integrate all websites and applications. It has managed to accomplish the task by making Facebook available on all websites and mobile applications. For example, the Google website that makes it possible, most Android mobile phones and the Facebook app are available on Apple phones. The availability of Facebook enables every user to become bonded with Facebook. The company’s vast audience has made it a platform for businesses, organizations, and competitors to access the public for their marketing strategies (Akyildiz & Argan 2012, p. 5).

Weaknesses

The weaknesses of a company are factors that could prevent its success. The factors can damage any project on Facebook. Fake users on Facebook are one of the challenges the company faces. The users should be aware of managing their accounts to avoid hackers. The question of privacy on the site is a major weakness, as the users may feel unsatisfied and move to another social media site.

Cybercrime is another challenge that challenges Facebook popularity among its subscribers. Hackers and cybercrimes create a public attitude among users and subscribers regarding the weak protection of user’ information. One of the main sources of income is advertisements. Advertisement revenue from mobile phones, who advertise on Facebook, is lower compared to the industry rate. The social media has a low (CTR) Click-Through–Rate of around 0.005%, while websites such as Google have around 4% CTR (Brooks, Heffner & Henderson 2014, p. 23).

Opportunities

Opportunities are any external factors that might contribute to achieving the company’s goals. Facebook should increase its mobile users. Over 300 million users of Facebook are mobile users, yet the revenues from the mobile advertisement account for only fourteen percent (Fernandez 2009, p. 35). The company has an opportunity to increase mobile advertisements to stimulate revenue.

Facebook should prepare to enter the Chinese market. China is one of the fastest-growing economies and is the most populous country in the world. Therefore, an entry into the Chinese market is an excellent opportunity for Facebook. One suggestion to Facebook is striking a deal with Baidu, which is the biggest search engine in China. Through the partnership, Facebook can breakthrough to China’s social media market.

Threats

Threats are the external factors that could affect the success of a company and hinder the completion of projects of the enterprise. The emergence of competitors can be a threat to Facebook. The companies bring ideas that Facebook cannot attract more subscribers to their sites. Google has launched a competitive social network, Google Plus. Users have also been using advertisement block extensions to block ads; the increasing rate of the activity affects the advertising revenue of Facebook.

PESTEL Analysis of Facebook

Politics

Governments and political personalities have had concerns about their privacy while using Facebook. The concerns affect Facebook’s strategy to use personal information to deliver an effective advertisement. If users feel their privacy is invaded, and file a lawsuit against Facebook, the company will be affected financially and strategically. In some countries, political issues result in the enactment of laws, which affect companies immensely. For example, the social site has been blocked in Iran, Vietnam, and North Korea. It means that Facebook does not have an opportunity to collect revenue from the states. The most recent political factor that improved the Facebook image was the Paris attack. The website allowed people to support France by adjusting their profile pictures with colors of the French flag (Vara 2007).

Economic

Facebook has grown at a high rate over the years compared to its competitors. Thus, it has recorded competitive revenue. Facebook’s revenue in 2011 grew by eighty-eight percent compared; on the other hand, Google recorded only thirty percent revenue growth in the same year. The rate of its revenue growth gives the opportunity to drive higher margins compared to its peers. For example, in 2011, Facebook’s operating margins were 47.4% with a net profit of eighteen percent. Compared to its main competitor Google, the operating margin was 30.9% with a net profit of 25.6% (Hansson, Wrangmo & Klaus 2013, p. 112). The high margins make Facebook have a competitive advantage to provide low advertisement rates. The company also has substantial cash flows that secure its stability despite any economic issues.

Social or Socio-Cultural Factors

Facebook is a social media platform that understands peoples’ culture and social life. The company comprehends and knows different cultures around the world. Understanding of various peculiarities and social activities among its users has created opportunities and developed the new markets. For instance, Facebook adopted the Moon Pig application, where people can send cards for special occasions (Langlois et al. 2009, p. 415). Facebook is always bringing ideas to meet socio-cultural diversity around the world. For example, the recent event was an avenue to support the gay community around the world by allowing its users to color their profile pics with the rainbow colors to show the support.

Organization Strategy Direction

Market Penetration

Facebook market penetration strategy had been directed towards increasing the company’s content provision to its consumers. The company plans to include new video content on its website. The fast change of social landscape results in the need to adopt a new strategy that can boost the company operation and market penetration. Moreover, the way, in which consumer choices and need are rapidly shifting, ignite the need to have a strategy that reacts quickly to the market needs. Facebook is developing video content that allows their consumers to share their video within the social platform without directing to other social networks such as YouTube. The strategy is directed at increasing the number of users and penetrating the social market by bringing a full package of entertainment content to their customers (Gezgin 2013, p. 23).

Market Development

The social market is rapidly advancing through an adverse interest in the use of social networks. Customers are becoming diverse, and the younger generation, who are the primary users and target consumers for their service, is increasing in number. Therefore, the company has strategized to introduce promotional post that attracts their consumer interest and performance. Facebook has users all over the global market; thus, the management should consider international peculiarities.

Product Development

In order to survive in the competitive market and the advancement of consumer interest in the social landscape, Facebook strategies aim at introducing a new content product within their operation. Their new video content is targeted at providing consumers with a different form of entertainment. Nevertheless, considering the existence of other forms of social media increases the level of competition in the social landscape. Facebook strategizes to overcome the challenges and competitors through developing a new social content that is geared to presenting and sharing videos and movies. The approach helps Facebook to increase their market share.

Diversification

Facebook has developed different strategies that are directed at increasing the company’s influence in the market. Facebook plans to introduce its promotion link that allows users to receive bonuses and rewards based on their involvement and participation in profile pages. The strategic move is directed at entering a new market and offering special competitive features. The approach makes the organization unique in its operation and activities; thus, increasing consumer interest. The introduction of a promotion strategy will bring a new form of product diversity and market target.

Evaluation of Facebook Organization Strategy

Suitability

The adoption of developing new content on Facebook is a suitable strategy considering that it will help increase the economies of scale by escalating the number of consumers. The use of video materials motivates the target people that used to turn to the alternative social platform to share their videos such as YouTube. The methods are suitable for improving the economic position of the company, which will attain its scope of the commercial scale (Boykova 2013, p. 15).

Feasibility

The development and adopting of new Facebook content is a feasible strategy, considering that its implementation is relatively cost-effective. The factor makes the development preferable and the resources readily attainable. The new strategy of including new content on the Facebook page will increase consumers’ interest and performance at a low cost of operation. It is possible to adopt the strategy considering the rapid change in the current technology.

Acceptability

Various Facebook users and shareholders accept the development and adaptation of the new strategy of introducing video content on the Facebook page. The strategy does not face the risk and increases visual information sharing among the users. The step has opened a new platform for consumers and business marketing. Considering the diversity of Facebook users, many people have found the new strategy beneficial in their use of the social platform.

Sustainability

The strategy is sustainable as it does not affect the consumer interest, culture or tradition. The approach protects the interest of different groups. The introduction of video interaction on Facebook is a strategic step towards the development of the consumers’ interest and value. It increases the company’s performance in advertisement and marketing and provides a sustainable platform for the use of the strategy.

Recommendation

Facebook needs to consider taking various steps in attaining a sufficient increase in their performance. One of the measures is to increase the level of Facebook coverage in different countries. The government allows the use of Facebook in business sectors and incorporate the use of Facebook among various sectors of the economy. The introduction of new content on Facebook is considered a positive step in the strategy.

The firm has to increase its marketing share through enacting smart hiring practices, acquiring competitors, strengthening customer relationships, and innovation. A high market share improves the competitive advantage of the organization. The results allow Facebook to offer better prices for its advertisers; hence, increasing their purchasing power. Moreover, Facebook can use its innovation to increase its market share. The organization can increase the number of users by targeting the devices that access the internet. They can allow people to connect through mobile phones, tablets, and smart television. Additionally, through strengthening client relationships, the firm can defend the present position in customer relationship management. Moreover, firms can grow their market share by using an easy tactic of satisfying the needs of the customer.

Conclusion

The value and importance of Facebook have infiltrated all the sectors of the business world. The business venture that started from the social platform has developed and become one of the most used websites in the world. The growth of Facebook as a commercial entity has increased to cover many sectors in the economy. Currently, Facebook has attracted many companies being used on the different platforms to improve company-marketing, strategy among others. Based on the analysis, the conclusion is that the management of Facebook has improved the performance and attitude towards the social platform.

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