Skype Qnd the Chqnge of the Value Curve in Voip Industry free essay sample

Within this essay, several theoretical concepts would be developed and underpinned practical examples taken from how Skype has revolutionized the telecommunication industry. Firstly, the new value innovation which constitutes Skype    would    be    characterized. Afterwards,    the    impact    of    Skype’s    new    value    innovation on its industry would be explained. Secondly, it would be seen how innovation and entrepreneurial intensity of firms introducing new services or products can influence the shape of the industry value curve, using strategic canvas framework. Thirdly, the identification of new groups of customers that enable the new innovation would be demonstrated. 1 T o begin with it seems relevant to define innovation. According to Steve Job cited in Fortune in 1998, innovation does not depend on the amount of money you spend but on â€Å"the   people   you   have,   how   youre   led,   and   how much   you   get   it†. Besides   according   to   Drucker   (1985, cited in Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2004:137),   innovation   is   Ã¢â‚¬Å"the   specific   instrument   of   entrepreneurship   [   the   act   that    endows    resources    with    a    new    capacity    to    create    wealth. † Drucker asserts that innovation leads to wealth creation. Kim and Mauborgne nuance the notion of innovation introducing the new value innovation. According    to    them,    â€Å"Value Innovation    is    the    cornerstone    of    blue    ocean    strategy. It focuses on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers and for the company, thereby opening up new and uncontested market space. † This works if there is the simultaneous effort to differentiate and to reduce the cost for buyers. They emphasize that value innovation benefits to customers and to the company which initiates it (see figure 1, p. 10). Besides, value innovation integrates a different approach than the conventional logic and applies a strategic logic of high growth including five dimensions: industry assumption, strategic focus, customers, assets and capabilities and product/service offering (see figure 2, p. 10) In the case of Skype, the company did this leap and created an uncontested market by transforming the way we communicate, using the shift from analog to digital (Rosenberg J. 2012). In 1876 analog telephone was invented by Graham Bell and    in    1960’s    it    became    global. It    is    just    in    the    1980’s    that    digital    connections    appeared, followed by the entrance of the mobile phone. Infrastructures for the digital technology were developed, and reduced the cost of information transmission. In 2003, Skype used this revol ution and revolutionized habits by launching the software which allows users to communicate –peers to peers on internet- with video 2 nd voice, to share files, to tchat and do video conferences, all of that free of charge. This combined voice and video offering gives users much higher value at lower cost than alternatives such as long distance calling, where you cannot see each other (Rosenberg J. , 2012). Furthermore, it ridicules complex and high costs calls from room-based video conferencing and reduces the costs of business or leisure travel. The impact on the industry was huge. â€Å"We   are   in   the   middle   of   an   incredible    revolution of how technology works as a whole. Voice Over IP has already transformed communication,    and    we    have    just    begun,†    said    Jonathan    Rosenberg,    chief technologist for Skype, during a lecture at Elon University in 2012. Indeed Skype made the competition irrelevant and Avaya, Siemens and Nortel Networks have stopped selling their expensive voice boxes for conferences (Rosenberg J. , 2012). Jonathan Rosenberg insists    in    the    conference    saying    â€Å"Holy    cow,    this    is    a    market    that    didn’t    exist,    and    now    12. 5 % of international calls include video†. The    shift has been radical for the industry and Skype represents now 25 % of the total volume of international calls. At last, TeleGeography’s    latest    data    shows    that    the    growth    of    international    call    traffic    slows    down,    while    Skype’s    cross-border traffic continues to soar (see figure 3, p. 11). 3 S econdly, the canvas value curve would be defined and the influence of Skype on the shape of the industry value curve using strategic canvas framework would be considered. According to Kim and Mauborgne the strategy canvas is the central diagnostic and action framework for building a compelling blue ocean strategy. Blue ocean strategy is an expression used by these two authors to express the uncontested market created by the value innovation; in contrast with the red ocean where firms are competing (see figure 4, p. 11). Being a tool for the BOS, the strategy canvas serves two purposes. Firstly, it clarifies which current competing factors are used by the industry, and so, by the main competitors competing in the red ocean. Secondly, it is an efficient way to refocus users on new competing factors and hence transform non customers to customers (see figure 5, p. 12). As suitable example of the strategy canvas, the graph was made for Skype (see figure 6, p. 12). Kim and Mauborgne assert that    to    â€Å"reconstruct    buyer    value    elements in crafting a new value curve; we use    the    four    actions    framework†. The    first    one    is    â€Å"eliminate†    and    it    represents    the    factor that the industry has long competed in. Skype eliminated the cost of global communications (only with peers to peers usage on internet), the obsolescence and the cost of maintenance of video conference equipment. The second one is â€Å"reduce†    and is related to which factors could be reduced well below the industry standard. In the case of Skype, it has reduced the time of connection. The third   factor   is   Ã¢â‚¬Å"raise†    and    considers    which    factors    should    be    raised    well    above    the    industry’s    standard. Skype raised the quality of the voice –essential factor according to Jonathan Rosenberg- and    the    ease    of    use. At    last,    the    fourth    factor    is    â€Å"create†    and    implies what could be created that the industry has never offered. Skype was the first 4 company in this industry launching new services like the possibility to share files, to tchat and the availability on mobile devices (see figure 7, p. 3) Normally, conventional competition takes place within clearly established boundaries defined by the products and services the industry traditionally offers. But in this case, Skype has clearly redefined the rules of the industry and has pushed the boundaries usi ng a strategic canvas framework. It is pertinent to ask what happens once a company has created a new value curve in terms of competition. Kim and Mauborgne argue that, sooner or later, the competition tries to imitate it. It is exactly what is happening for Skype. Indeed, many companies have tried to copy this value innovation. According to Focus. om (platform of experts on technology) and CreditScore it is the case for ooVoo, Vbuzzer, VoipBuster, Jajah and SightSpeed. For the future Skype intends to develop its availability on different platforms as it knows that it could increase the volume of users. Hence, Skype wants to be compatible with Xbox, Hotmail messenger and Kinect. Furthermore, Google and Facebook plan to invest $ 4 Billion each one in the company, which reveals that Skype is still seen in advance, compared to its competitors and attracts investors. Even if competitors intend to compete with Skype, they are still struggling to do it. Skype has transformed the value curve of the industry and is still    in    a    â€Å"blue    ocean†. Indeed,   as   noted   by   Microsoft   News   center,   Skype   is   still   the   only software which provides at the same time voice call ( P2P), phone call (calling in), video call, instant messaging, desktop sharing and file sharing (see figure 8, p. 13). What would be the next value innovation to maintain the differentiation? 5 F inally, new groups of customers that enable the new value innovation would be identified. Afterwards, this identification would be supported by Skype example. Most of the time, companies which are competing   within   a   Ã¢â‚¬Å"red   ocean†   try   to   attract customers by refining the segmentation and offering tailoring to meet their needs (Kim and Mauborge 2012). Unfortunately this leads to narrow the number of customers who are reachable, creating too-small target markets. Value innovation follows an utterly different logic. Instead of concentrating on customers, they focus on noncustomers. It has been argued by Kim and Mauborgne that there are three ties of noncustomers that can be transformed into customers (see figure 9, p. 14). It is essential for companies to know who the non-customers are, in    order    to    â€Å"unlock    them†. The    first    tier    is    the    one    which    is    closest    to    the    market’s    company. Noncustomers within this tier are the more likely to become its customers if the company offers a leap in value. In addition,   these   Ã¢â‚¬Å"soon-to-be†   customers   could be loyal and their frequency of purchase could multiply in the near future. The second tier of noncustomers is constituted of people who refuse to use   the    company’s   offering. They    are aware of the offering but have consciously decided to be against the market. For Skype, it could be the case with aged people who know that Skype exists but prefer using   their   Ã¢â‚¬Å"classic   analog   phone†   for   international   calls. The   last   tier   is   Ã¢â‚¬Å"unexplored†    customers who are in markets distant from the company. In reality these people have   never   considered   the   market’s   offering   as   an   option. Using   Skype   example,   this    could be the case of people who do not have an internet access, especially in remote areas. Skype    by    creating    a    leap    of    value    for    customers    has    really    â€Å"unlocked    noncustomers†.