STRATEGIC MANAGEMent

AssIGNMent # 1
GROUP MEMBERS

• Anoushka Gupta
• Anvesha Khillar
• Sunishka Shetty
• Taniesha Shah

The company we decided to choose was Viacom-18 Media Pvt.Ltd. Viacom 18 Media Pvt.
Limited is an Indian joint venture operation between TV18 and Viacom CBS based in
Mumbai.[3] It was founded in November 2007 and owns various channels of Viacom CBS,
as well as various consumer products in India.Viacom18 is currently led by Rahul Joshi, who
is also MD, Network18.

Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. is one of India's fastest growing entertainment networks and a
house of iconic brands that offers multi-platform, multi-generational and multicultural brand
experiences. A joint venture of Network18, which owns 51%, and Viacom CBS, with a 49%
stake, Viacom18 defines entertainment in India by touching the lives of people through its
properties on air, online, on ground, in shop and through cinema.
Viacom18 – is a joint venture of Mukesh Ambani-controlled TV18, which owns 51%, and
Viacom Inc., with a 49% stake - saw TV18 increasing its stake in Viacom18 to 51% in 2018,
buying an additional 1% from Viacom Inc. for $20 million. The move was aimed at
accelerating growth through synergy with TV18’s parent Network 18 Group and its affiliates,
including the booming telco Reliance Jio, to access the many India’s through multiple
consumer touch-points. While Viacom18 looks at catering to the demand and tailoring its
content for the telco’s requirement, on leveraging synergies with Reliance Jio, Vats says,
“We continuously work with the Reliance Jio team; that’s an important partner and parent, in
our case. Our ability to give our content on a pilot basis wherever certain pilots must be done
is an area of synergy as we continue to explore synergies in all possible areas.”
The vision is to be the most admired media & entertainment company by continuously
entertaining, engaging and enriching the life of every Indian through sustained innovation
and thought leadership.VIACOM-18 has a bouquet of iconic brands include COLORS,
Rishtey, Rishtey Cineplex, MTV, MTV Beats, Vh1 India, COLORS INFINITY, Comedy
Central, COLORS Marathi, COLORS Gujarati, COLORS Bangla, COLORS Kannada,
COLORS Super, COLORS Odiya, Nickelodeon, Sonic, Nick Junior, Nick HD+, VOOT,
Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Viacom18 Integrated Network Solutions and Viacom18
Consumer Products.
Mission: VIACOM-18 wants to be the most admired Media & Entertainment company by
continuously Entertaining, Engaging and Enriching the life of every Indian through sustained
innovation & thought leadership. The mission of Viacom18 Digital Ventures is to entertain
and enrich the lives of every online Indian, by bringing personalized world-class
entertainment experiences on their connected screens.
VIACOM-18 VALUES
• STAY CURIOUS. STAY FEARLESS
We create ideas and nurture them. We boldly experiment with the unknown. Take the road
less travelled and create value from the unexplored. Because audacity, has its rewards.
• LEARN WITH HUMILITY
We assimilate from all sources and actively seek feedback. We accept our shortcomings and
willfully work on them. For every pillar we build, we make sure it stands on the strong
foundation of humility.
• EXECUTE WITH EXCELLENCE
We know our potential and are aware of the expectations. Hence, each idea is executed with
great care and seriousness. We don't merely raise the bar. We become the bar.
• CREATE TOMORROW
The future will be crafted here. Every single day. Every next moment. Our voices usher the
revolution as we strive to be the trend creators. We harness the best of today and nurture it
into the best of tomorrow. That is who we are. That is what we do.
• LISTEN DEEPLY
We are curious to learn and equipped to apply. Our obsession with insights and priorities of
consumers drives our business. We dig deeper into the human connection to take them a
notch higher.
• STAY CURIOUS. STAY FEARLESS
We create ideas and nurture them. We boldly experiment with the unknown. Take the road
less travelled and create value from the unexplored. Because audacity, has its rewards.
 SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is a vital strategic planning tool that can be used by VIACOM-18 managers
to do a situational analysis of the company. It is a handy technique to understand the present
Strengths (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) & Threats (T) VIACOM-18 is facing in its
current business environment.
The VIACOM-18 is one of the leading organizations in its industry. VIACOM-18 maintains
its dominant position in market by carefully analyzing and reviewing the SWOT analysis.
SWOT analysis is an immensely interactive process and requires effective coordination
among various departments within the firm such as – marketing, finance, operations,
management information systems and strategic planning.
VIACOM-18 18 is a private media company which is based in Mumbai. An Indian joint
venture between VIACOM-18CBS (49%) and TV18 (51%) was founded in November 2007
and owns various channels of VIACOM-18CBS, as well as various consumer products in
India. It defines entertainment in India by touching the lives of people through its properties
on air, online, on ground, in shop and through cinema. Its expansion started when it went
international with the launch of Colors in the United States. In July 2010, it got into 50/50
distribution joint venture with Sun Network to form Sun 18. Further they launched
Nickelodeon Sonic, targeting young adults. The company also owns VIACOM-18 18 Motion
Pictures. Majority of the shares of this joint venture are with TV18, taking operational control
and leaving VIACOM-18 with minority interest. Recently in October 2019, VIACOM-18 18
launched Colors HD in Malaysia on Astro Malaysia; every serial will be served with Malay
and English subtitles.
The SWOT Analysis framework enables an organization to identify the internal strategic
factors such as -strengths and weaknesses, & external strategic factors such as - opportunities
and threats. The Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis / Matrix
enables the managers of the VIACOM-18 to develop four types of strategies:
 ➢ SO (strengths-opportunities) Strategies
➢ WO (weaknesses-opportunities) Strategies
➢ ST (strengths-threats) Strategies
➢ WT (weaknesses-threats) Strategies
Strengths of VIACOM-18 – Internal Strategic Factors
As one of the leading organizations in its industry, VIACOM-18 has numerous strengths that
help it to thrive in the marketplace. These strengths not only help it to protect the market
share in existing markets but also help in penetrating new markets.
➢ Strong distribution network – Over the years VIACOM-18 has built a reliable
distribution network that can reach majority of its potential market.
➢ Strong Free Cash Flow – VIACOM-18 has strong free cash flows that provide
resources in the hand of the company to expand into new projects.
➢ High level of customer satisfaction – the company with its dedicated customer
relationship management department has able to achieve a high level of customer
satisfaction among present customers and good brand equity among the potential
customers.
➢ Good Returns on Capital Expenditure – VIACOM-18 is relatively successful at
execution of new projects and generated good returns on capital expenditure by
building new revenue streams.
➢ Strong Brand Portfolio – Over the years VIACOM-18 has invested in building a
strong brand portfolio. This brand portfolio can be extremely useful if the
organization wants to expand into new product categories.
➢ Highly successful at Go to Market strategies for its products.
➢ Successful track record of developing new products – product innovation.
➢ Highly skilled workforce through successful training and learning programs.
VIACOM-18 is investing huge resources in training and development of its
employees resulting in a workforce that is not only highly skilled but also motivated
to achieve more.
➢ VIACOM-18 boasts a wide array of network and film titles that cater to a variety of
demographics. MTV and Comedy Central seem tailor-made for today’s social media-
integrated digital media world, while Nickelodeon longstanding brands with high
loyalty amongst their target audiences.
➢ While it has struggled to market and capitalize its content amidst shifting consumer
and BET are two preferences, it has a leg up on upstarts trying to become the next
mass media conglomerate.
➢ Social Media: VIACOM-18 Inc has a strong presence on social media with more than
millions of followers on the three most famous social media platforms: Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram. It has high levels of customer engagement on these platforms
with low customer response time.
➢ Website: VIACOM-18 has a well-functioning and interactive website that draws
many internet traffic and sales.
➢ Product Portfolio: VIACOM-18 has a large product portfolio where it provides
products in a large range of categories. It has several unique product offerings that are
not provided by competitors.
 ➢ The geography and location of VIACOM-18 provide it with a cost advantage in
serving its customers, when compared to that with the competition.
➢ VIACOM-18 has a well-established IT system that ensures efficiency in its internal
and external operations.
➢ VIACOM-18 owns several intellectual property rights that include trademarks and
patents. These allow it exclusivity over its products and competitors cannot copy or
reverse engineer them.
➢ VIACOM-18 is a brand that has been in the market for years, and people are aware of
it. This makes its brand awareness high.
➢ •Its services have maintained quality over the years and are still valued by customers,
who find it as good value for money that they pay.
➢ •Partnerships: Strategic partnerships are established by VIACOM-18 with its
suppliers, dealers, retailers, and other stakeholders. This allows it to leverage them if
need be in the future.

Weakness of VIACOM-18 – Internal Strategic Factors

Weakness are the areas where VIACOM-18 can improve upon. Strategy is about making
choices and weakness are the areas where a company can improve using SWOT analysis and
build on its competitive advantage and strategic positioning.
➢ Need more investment in new technologies. Given the scale of expansion and
different geographies the company is planning to expand into, VIACOM-18 needs
to put more money in technology to integrate the processes across the board. Right
now, the investment in technologies is not at par with the vision of the company.
➢ The marketing of the services left a lot to be desired. Even though the product is a
success in terms of sale, but its positioning and unique selling proposition is not
clearly defined which can lead to the attacks in this segment from the competitors.
➢ There are gaps in the product range sold by the company. This lack of choice can
give a new competitor a foothold in the market.
➢ The profitability ratio and Net Contribution % of VIACOM-18 are below the
industry average.
➢ Financial planning is not done properly and efficiently. The current asset ratio and
liquid asset ratios suggest that the company can use the cash more efficiently than
what it is doing at present.
➢ Days inventory is high compare to the competitors – making the company raise
more capital to invest in the channel. This can impact the long-term growth of
VIACOM-18.
➢ Investment in Research and Development is below the fastest growing players in
the industry. Even though VIACOM-18 is spending above the industry average on
Research and Development, it has not been able to compete with the leading
players in the industry in terms of innovation. It has come across as a mature firm
looking forward to bringing out products based on tested features in the market.
➢ The media and entertainment sector in India are highly fragmented. Lack of
cohesive production and distribution infrastructure, especially in the case of music
 industry. The lack of endeavour for media perforation in lower socio-economic
classes, where the media penetration is on the lower end.
➢ Like many of its industry counterparts, VIACOM-18 has been confronted with
challenges in its cable programming segment. Viewers, especially in younger
demographics, are migrating to cost-effective options like Netflix and Hulu to get
their programming fix, while new media platforms like YouTube, owned Google ,
continue to pressure the old guard media companies to adjust their strategies. But
VIACOM-18, whose Media Networks business makes up for an outsized portion
of companywide business, appears to be the hardest hit in recent months.
➢ It announced a $785 million write-down associated with weak ratings for many of
its syndicated programs, including “Entourage” and “CSI”, which led to
unspecified employee layoffs. Lack of flexibility in the supply chain - They see a
significant challenge in its supply chain. It does not have a flexible supply chain
process. This is also a weakness for the brand as when the supply chain is not
proper; it might lead to confusion of the entire system.
➢ Cash flow problems: There is a lack of proper financial planning at VIACOM-18
Inc regarding cash flows, leading to certain circumstances where there is not
enough cash flow as required leading to unnecessary unplanned borrowing.
➢ Integration: VIACOM-18 Inc's current structure and culture have resulted in the
failure of various mergers aimed at vertical integration.
➢ Diversification in the workforce: The workforce at VIACOM-18 is concentrated
with mostly local workers, and low amounts of workers from other racial
backgrounds. Lack of diversification makes it difficult for employees from
different racial background to adjust at the workplace, leading to loss of talent.
➢ Market Research: VIACOM-18 has not conducted market research within the
market that is serves since the past 2 years. As a result, it is making decisions
based on 2 years old data, while customer needs may have evolved over time.
➢ High employee turnover rates: VIACOM-18 has a higher employee turnover rate
compared to competitors. This means that it has more people leaving the job, and
as a result, it is spending more on training and development as employees keep
leaving and joining.
➢ Quality Control: VIACOM-18 has a lower budget for its quality control
department than competitors. This leads to lack of consistency and the possibility
of damage to quality across its various outlets.
➢ Lack of legal experience and legal department employees are not highly qualified.
➢ A few products have a high market share, while most of the products have a low
market share. This reliance on a few products makes vulnerable to external threats
if these few products suffer for any reason.
➢ The workload is a high per worker as there are fewer workers than the actual work
required. This puts workers under psychological stress and is likely to be less
productive.
➢ Worker morale is low due to company culture and politics that have grown in
recent years.
➢ Competition and qualified employees have been leaving the organisation in recent
years, which could mean a shortage of good talent for the company in the
upcoming years.
 ➢ The decision making is highly centralized, and decisions by teams need to be
approved by certain officials. This reduces efficiency in operations by making
them more time consuming. It also leads to reduced innovation.
➢ The performance appraisal is not in a systematic manner. People are often not
appraised for their performance. This leads to lower work morale and lack of
promotion opportunities for employees.

Opportunities for VIACOM-18 – External Strategic Factors

➢ The increasing interest of the global investors in the sector. Opportunities for the
expansion in the poorer sections of the society where the penetration is poor.
Technological innovations like animations, multiplexes, etc. and new distribution
channels like phones and digital have enabled new opportunities in the sector.
Rise in the viewership and the advertising expenditure.
➢ Increase in the customer base - The company sees more opportunities in the
market on increasing its customer base. So, they should find out new marketing
strategies to expand its customer base. The brand can enter various social media
platforms to build its brand awareness, thereby leading to increase customer base.
When the customer base grows, the revenue of the brand also increases.
➢ Collaboration with local players- sees a significant opportunity of getting tied with
local players to increase its service. When expanding its reach to many people
with the help of local players coupled with an increase in its services, they see a
huge opportunity. Its overall customer base increases along with its facilities that
would keep the brand on the top.
➢ High-end services - They should venture into providing high-end products which
are of the current trend. So, it should always keep its services up to date to meet
the current trend in the industry. Less of New Entrants - There is less of a new
entrant in this industry due to the strict government regulations. Due to the strict
rules, the new entrants are less and thereby seeing a massive opportunity for them
to flourish in the market.
➢ Stable free cash flow provides opportunities to invest in adjacent product
segments. With more cash in bank the company can invest in new technologies as
well as in new products segments. This should open a window of opportunity for
VIACOM-18 in other product categories.
➢ Opening of new markets because of government agreement – the adoption of new
technology standard and government free trade agreement has provided
VIACOM-18 an opportunity to enter a new emerging market.
➢ Government green drive also opens an opportunity for procurement of VIACOM-
18 products by the state as well as federal government contractors.
➢ New environmental policies – The new opportunities will create a level playing
field for all the players in the industry. It represents a great opportunity for
VIACOM-18 to drive home its advantage in new technology and gain market
share in the new product category.
➢ The new technology provides an opportunity to VIACOM-18 to practices
differentiated pricing strategy in the new market. It will enable the firm to
 maintain its loyal customers with great service and lure new customers through
other value-oriented propositions.
➢ New customers from online channel – Over the past few years the company has
invested vast sum of money into the online platform. This investment has opened
new sales channel for VIACOM-18. In the next few years, the company can
leverage this opportunity by knowing its customer better and serving their needs
using big data analytics.
➢ Economic uptick and increase in customer spending, after years of recession and
slow growth rate in the industry, is an opportunity for VIACOM-18 to capture
new customers and increase its market share.
➢ Skilled workers: increase in education and training by numerous institutes has
increased the amount of skilled labour available within the country. This means
that if VIACOM-18 can hire skilled labour, it would have to spend less on training
and development, therefore, saving costs.
➢ The growth in consumer spending in the economy is likely to increase
consumption for VIACOM-18's products.
➢ Several new niche markets have opened that are growing. VIACOM-18 can sell
products in these markets and take advantage.
➢ Globalisation: Increased globalisation does not restrict VIACOM-18 to its own
country. It can extend its operations to other countries, entering these markets and
making use of the opportunities that lie in these markets.
➢ Consumers within the industry are becoming more conscious of health, and this is
a segment that is growing. VIACOM-18 can take advantage by manufacturing
products that are beneficial to customer's health.
➢ Trade barriers have been reduced on the import of goods. This will reduce the
costs incurred on inputs for production.
➢ Regulations have loosened in recent years making it easier for businesses to carry
out their operations.

Threats of VIACOM-18
➢ Technological developments by competitors; New technological developments by
a few competitors within the industry pose a threat to as customer attracted to this
new technology can be lost to competitors, decreasing VIACOM-18’s overall
market share.
➢ Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers has increased over the years with the
decrease in the number of suppliers. This means that the costs of inputs could
increase for VIACOM-18.
➢ New entrants: there have been numerous players that have entered the market and
are gaining market share by gaining existing companies’ market share. This is a
threat to VIACOM-18 as it can lose its customers to these new entrants.
➢ Increasing competition: there has been an increase in competition within the
industry putting downward pressure on prices. This could lead to reduced revenue
for VIACOM-18 if it adjusts to the price changes, or loss of market share if it does
not.
➢ Exchange Rate: the exchange rate keeps fluctuating, and this affects a company
like VIACOM-18 that has sales internationally, while its suppliers are local.
➢ Political uncertainties in the country prove to be a barrier in business, hindering
performance at times and making the business incur unnecessary costs.
➢ The fluctuating interest rates in the country do not provide a stable financial and
economic environment.
➢ Consumer tastes are changing, and this puts pressure on companies to constantly
change their products to meet the needs of these customers.
➢ Regulations on international trade keep changing, and this requires compliance by
companies if they are to operate globally.
➢ Substitute products available are also increasing, which is threat collectively for
the whole industry as consumption of current products decrease.
➢ Increased promotions by competitors have been a threat for VIACOM-18. On
most media, there is more clutter than ever, and customers are bombarded with
multiple messages. This reduces the effectiveness of promotional messages by
VIACOM-18.
➢ Constant technological developments require the workforce to be trained
accordingly as the inability to keep up with these changes can lead to loss of
business for VIACOM-18.
➢ Rising new entertainment companies can pose a threat to the VIACOM-18
profitability.
➢ Changing consumer buying behaviours from online channel could be a threat to
the existing physical infrastructure driven supply chain model.
➢ Liability laws in different countries are different and VIACOM-18may be exposed
to various liability claims given change in policies in those markets.
➢ Intense competition – Stable profitability has increased the number of players in
the industry over last two years which has put downward pressure on not only
profitability but also on overall sales.
➢ Imitation of the counterfeit and low-quality product is also a threat to Viacom’s
product especially in the emerging markets and low-income markets.
➢ New technologies developed by the competitor or market disruptor could be a
serious threat to the industry in medium to long term future.

PESTEL ANALYSIS
PESTEL analysis is a strategic tool used in strategic planning and management. It stands for -
Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental & Legal factors that impact the
macro business environment.
Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Limited operates in a complex and dynamic business environment
where change can habitually be expected. Such changes in the macro business environment
have a direct effect not only on Viacom 18 but also on other players in the entertainment
sector.
Thus, strategic tools like PESTEL that provide detail about operating challenges to Viacom
help face and be equipped for changes in the macro business environment in conjunction to
challenges faced due to their competitive forces.

Political Factors that impact Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Limited:

Political factors play a significant role in determining Viacom 18’s long term profitability.
Viacom18 operates 44 Channels with over 500 million engaged Indian consumers. Thus, we
can expect that the company is often exposed to different types of political risks.
Some political factors that commonly need to be considered are:
➢ Risk of military offensives
➢ Political instability
➢ Bureaucracy and corruption
➢ Frequent policy Changing
➢ Protests/pressure groups
➢ intellectual property protection
➢ technology development policy

Analysis of political factors affecting Viacom 18:

➢ Risk of military invasion - Putting aside the very real human cost, military unrest
and war also has serious economic costs – demolition of buildings, loss of
infrastructure, a plunge in the working population, uncertainty, mounting debt and
the interruption of normal economic activity. While India has not had any major
wars in the recent years, as tensions between China and India flare in the current
scenario, the concern and risks of war seem imminent and no business or
economic activity is exempt to it.
➢ Level of Bureaucracy and corruption- Bureaucracy and corruption have a direct
negative influence the business environment. Countries like India with high
corruption levels and weak law enforcement makes the business environment
unpredictable for Viacom 18. It is therefore important not to further jeopardize
public trust on business organizations and the overall political and economic
structure. Corruption influences various business operations, from licensing, to
 fraudulent deals and frequent lawsuits. Therefore, it will be important for Viacom
18 to maintain as much transparency as possible.
➢ Political stability - political stability offers a stable business environment with
steady market growth trends. However, when there is political instability,
investors are deterred, and the stakeholders lose trust in economic and
organizational performance. Growing political tensions and instabilities may limit
the growth opportunities available to Viacom 18. Keeping this in mind the
company must decide if it would be wise to carry out other business decisions like
taking out huge loans or hiring more staff. In India, the company would have to
observe the political atmosphere closely and try to predict future political trends as
these trends will have a direct impact on the company.
➢ Changing policies - Frequent changes in government policies harm business
performance and increase uncertainty in the business environment. It is therefore
imperative for Viacom 18 to study the current changes in government and
governmental priorities towards different industries. if for instance a governmental
body is to be more religiously inclined it would be wise for Viacom18 to create
content that would not counter this religious thought, or any other policies the
government creates, as that would certainly lead to a bad name for the company.
➢ Protests/pressure groups – Viacom18 needs to carefully analyse pressure groups,
as they play an important role in the policy making process. Collaboration with
pressure groups may improve Viacom18’s ability to collaborate with the
community and achieve long-term corporate goals.
➢ Intellectual property protection -. if a government is not serious about protecting
the intellectual property rights of a business, it deters entrepreneurs from investing
in the organizations. Hence, Viacom18 must study and abide by the rules and laws
of intellectual property rights and make the business strategies accordingly. They
would have to regularly keep an eye on their patents, copyrights, and other such
intellectual property
➢ By recognizing the importance technology and aligning initiatives and programs
to support technological progress, Viacom 18 can truly realize its full potential.
Research and development therefore play a great role in success, the company
would have to look out for government funded research projects too to get a good
insight of the needs and wants of the country.

Economic Factors that Impact Viacom 18:

Several economic factors play a role in forecasting the growth trajectory of Viacom18 like
the industry growth rate, consumer spending, inflation etc.
Economic factors Viacom should consider are:
➢ Business cycle stage (e.g. prosperity, recession, recovery)
➢ Inflation/employment/interest/exchange rates
➢ Labour costs and productivity in the economy
➢ Efficiency of financial markets –
➢ Government intervention in
➢ Stability of currency.
 ➢ Infrastructure quality
➢ Comparative advantages
➢ Skill level of workforce
➢ Education level in the economy
➢ Economic growth rate
➢ Discretionary income
➢ Unemployment rate
➢ Inflation rate
➢ Interest rates

Analysis of economic factors affecting Viacom 18

➢ Economic/business cycle stage - The economic development of a country directly
influences business performance. Growing economies like India offer several
growth opportunities to Viacom. In the same way, it is important to understand the
industry lifecycle stage. As the entertainment industry in India is saturated than
industries at the growth stage it becomes increasingly important for Viacom18 to
make itself stand out
➢ Inflation/employment/interest/exchange rates - The GDP growth rate will
determine the Viacom18’s ability to pursue long-term growth strategies. High
unemployment tells us that there is the availability of surplus labour at
comparatively lower wages. Viacom 18 thus makes use of this lower the
production cost. However, lower production costs through lower paid labour are
not always the priority as skilled labour cannot be compromised upon.
➢ The organization should also carefully consider the interest rate and its influence
on borrowing ability and attitude towards investment. High interest rates will
encourage the investment and increase growth opportunities for Viacom18.
Therefore, the company is always required to have a close eye on economic
policies and trends
➢ Labour market conditions and Labour costs - The demand and supply of labour
determine the wage rates and supply of skilled workforce. Viacom18 must study
and predict the market conditions to recognize how it can create a centre of
attention for talented workers and leverage their skills to improve business
performance. Viacom18 must carefully analyse the availability of skilled human
capital as there can be a shortage of skilled labour which will affect business
competence and make talent attraction and retention further challenging.
➢ Rising prices, also known as inflation, highly impact one’s cost of living as well
as the cost of business activities. Therefore, it is imperative that Viacom 18 keeps
a close eye on inflationary trends in India and take business decisions accordingly.
➢ Interest rates - When interest rates rise, banks charge more for loans. When
interest remains low, businesses can borrow more readily. Low-interest loans can
fund business growth and increase profitability because businesses can earn
enough off new ventures to pay for the loan interest and have money left over for
profits. This interest cycle is one of the most important economic factors of
running a business. Viacom 18 would therefore have to closely monitor interest
rates in India and even predict the rise or fall of interest rates in future years.
Social Factors that Impact Viacom-18
Societal culture and way of doing things impact the culture of an organization. Shared beliefs,
societal norms, values, trends, and attitudes play a great role in designing effective marketing
messages and fulfilling corporate objectives through informed PESTEL analysis.
Social factors that leadership of Viacom 18 should investigate for PESTEL analysis are -
➢ Demographics and skill level of the population
➢ Class structure, hierarchy, and power structure in the society.
➢ Culture (gender roles, social conventions etc.)
➢ Spending patterns and behaviours
➢ Attitudes (health, environmental consciousness, etc.)
➢ Leisure interests

Analysis of social factors –

➢ Demographic trends - demographic patterns like aging population and migration
trends have vital importance for organizations like Viacom. Studying the
demographic characteristics can help Viacom18 in working with the right market
segments that have a high growth potential. The business and marketing strategies
are also influenced by migration and other such factors therefore it is imperative
that the company has a pulse of the current demographics of India and other
emerging trends. For instance, we know that there is an increase of Smartphone
usage in rural India therefore it is imperative to reach out to that demographic
through the medium i.e. smart phones.
➢ Class structure, hierarchy, and power structure - The power distance within any
society shows the recognition of hierarchy and income inequality. Viacom 18
must adjust its business management practices suiting Indian mentality of
hierarchies and power structures. Over the last decade companies only had a top
down approach in India and there was a rigid hierarchy; however, that is
beginning to change especially in the entertainment industry which Viacom
belongs to. So, in due course the company may have to alter their organizational
culture as more and more companies follow this new approach.
➢ Gender Roles – Viacom18 will need to study the traditionally assigned gender
roles to align its marketing and communication practices accordingly. India being
a largely traditional, patriarchal society with clearly distinguished gender roles
will impact decision making processes in the company too. However, this culture
is slowly but surely beginning to change. While the internal workings of the
company must be free of any gender bias, the messaging of the company still
plays to gender stereotypes and gender roles. As the overarching culture changes
the company would also have to adapt to the new practices and ensure political
correctness.
➢ Societal norms and class distribution - Each society has distinctive norms and
values that play an important role in shaping consumer behaviour. Viacom 18
therefore must develop local teams for understanding societal attitudes and norms
 and tailor specific marketing strategies according to unique cultural context. India
is a very large country, and the customs and cultures in the north and south for
instance vary drastically, therefore it is imperative that Viacom 18 caters to the
needs of both groups for pan India success.

Technological Factors that Impact Viacom18-

Technology is the fourth factor of PESTEL analysis. Over the last 5 years the industry has
been transforming fast, and the rapid technological advancement and technological diffusion
across the globe have increased the importance of understanding technological factors during
the strategic decision-making process.
Following technological factors can influence the business performance of Viacom.
➢ Social media marketing
➢ Recent technological developments by Viacom, Inc. competitors
➢ Technology's impact on product offering
➢ Impact on cost structure in Entertainment - Diversified industry
➢ Impact on value chain structure in Services sector
➢ Shortened product life cycles
➢ Rate of technological diffusion

Analysis of technological factors on Viacom18

➢ Social media marketing- The development of information and communication
technologies has led towards the adoption of innovative marketing techniques to
enhance the feedback process and communication process with customers. Use of
social media has become common in a modern business environment. Viacom18
therefore is needs to leverage such opportunities offered by social media
marketing to improve business performance.
➢ Viacom18 should also carefully consider the on-going technological innovations
to stay ahead of their competition. By keeping a close eye on 5G streaming and
other such innovations they can truly enhance consumer experience.
➢ Research and development on technology and impact on cost structure/value chain
– Research and development activities would enable Viacom 18 to maximize their
profits by allowing them to be ahead of the curve and giving consumers what they
want.

Environmental Factors that Impact Viacom18-

The growing environmental consciousness and changing climatic conditions have made
‘environmental analysis’ an important part of the PESTEL analysis. Some examples of
environmental factors that Viacom18 needs to consider are given below.
 ➢ Recycling
➢ Waste management
➢ Attitudes toward “green” or ecologically sound enterprises
➢ Attitudes toward and support for renewable energy

Analysis of environmental factors that affect viacom18 -

➢ Adopting efficient waste management practices in highly crucial for Viacom18.
Many countries have place strict norms to protect their urban areas through
effective waste management. In India this is currently not the norm, but through
following recycling and other waste management procedures the company can
gain a good name for itself which could lead to a rise in stakeholder satisfaction
and a rise in customer base due to enhanced brand image.

Legal Factors that Impact Viacom 18-

“Legal” is the sixth factor of PESTEL analysis. Viacom 18 needs to carefully evaluate legal
aspects of business to avoid getting into serious trouble.
Some of the legal factors that Viacom, Inc. leadership should consider are -
➢ Copyright, patents / Intellectual property law
➢ Consumer protection and e-commerce
➢ Employment law
➢ Health and safety law
➢ Data Protection

Analysis of Legal Factors that Impact Viacom 18

➢ Employee protection laws - Viacom must follow the employee/labour health and
safety laws. A secure work environment is an ethical and moral obligation of all
companies. Similarly, anti-discrimination laws also need to be carefully studied
and implemented to avoid suits against the company which would harm the
organizational image and affect the ability to attract and retain the talent.
➢ Consumer protection laws - data protection has become an important issue due to
increasing consumer privacy and security concerns. Viacom18 will need to study
data protection regulations to protect the customer data.
➢ Intellectual property laws - Intellectual property regulations are designed to
protect the companies' patents and valuable ideas. Inability to protect intellectual
property rights can result in losing competitive advantage, which may weaken the
positioning of Viacom against other market players.
We are following the Porters value chain system and dividing all business activities and sectors
into primary and supporting activities. The first five being primary activities that include all
the actions that go into the creation of the business' product. While the supporting activities
help the primary activities in creating an advantage over competitors.

This division makes the value chain analysis more linear and allows us to investigate the role
of each business activity intricately. We learn not only about the business activity but its use in
relation to the other business activities.

The Primary activities in a value chain system are:

1. Inbound logistics
2. Operations
3. Outbound logistics
4. Marketing and sales
5. Services
While the supporting activities are:

1. Firm infrastructure
2. Human Resource Management
3. Technology Development
4. Procurement
Considering Viacom 18 is not involved in making a physically tangible product we have not
delved into the inbound/outbound logistics when considering the workings of the company.
Instead we have given special attention to

1. Operations
2. Marketing and sales
3. Services

INBOUND LOGISTICS
It is important to develop strong relationships with suppliers as their support is necessary to receive,
store and distribute the product. Without analysing the in-bound logistics, Viacom--18 can face
various challenges in product development phases. Analysis of in-bound logistics requires a company
to focus on every aspect of transformation from raw material to finished product. Some examples of
inbound logistics are retrieving raw material, storing the inputs, and internally distributing the raw
material and components to start production.

Inbound Logistics refers to goods being obtained from the organization's suppliers and to be used for
producing the end product. Viacom-18-18's end product are the shows and films produced along
with complementary games and digital accessories. Therefore, inbound logistics refers to the
inventory and supplies needed to create these products. Examples include TV/movie studios and
filming/editing equipment as well as necessary programming.

Viacom-18-18 owns all their inbound logistics which creates a competitive advantage.

OPERATIONS:
Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. is one of India’s fastest growing entertainment networks and a
house of paradigmatic brands that offer multi-platform, multi-generational and
multicultural brand experiences. A joint venture of Viacom Inc. and the Network18 Group,
Viacom18 stresses entertainment in India by touching the lives of people through its
properties on air, online, on ground, in shop and through cinema.

Viacom18 aims to dial up synergies across the multiplatform network that houses iconic
brands. Viacom18 the rearrangement exercise is aimed at making the organization future
ready as it enters its next growth phase. With this move Viacom18 has federated its national
brands aimed at youth and adult audiences viz. Hindi, Youth, Music and English
Entertainment offerings.
The network pumps up its content & music offerings. ‘Brand Studio’ will generate branded
content and white label solutions for partners, along with original commissioned content.

‘MTV Music Project’, will enable an ecosystem of new and established artistes and create
original music content. This is in addition to existing portfolio that includes MTV, MTV Beats,
COLORS Infinity, Comedy Central & Vh1.

With a clear focus on strengthening its rural presence, Viacom18 has also elevated Anuj
Poddar from his current role at COLORS Marathi & COLORS Gujarati to lead the rural
expansion as Head – Rural Business, including Rishtey Cineplex. Viacom18 Consumer
Products & Integrated Network Solutions will pursue to steer the endeavors towards
structuring handcrafted pragmatic IPs and a robust consumer products business.

Italicizing its belief in the expansion prospect of regional broadcast entertainment,

Viacom18 has entrusted the responsibility of its existing regional channels (COLORS
Kannada, COLORS Super, COLORS Marathi, COLORS Bangla, COLORS Odia, COLORS Gujarati)
combining all its regional offerings under one roof to ensure greater focus.

Viacom18 is the leader in the kid’s entertainment category with the No.1 Kids
entertainment channel Nickelodeon and a strong portfolio comprising Sonic, Nick Jr and
Nick HD+. Kids clump, Viacom18, the network will be expanding its presence in the ‘kids
ecosystem’ as it plans to enhance its repertoire of homegrown content and drive up its
consumer connect with live events, experiential touch points and learning initiatives.

Viacom18 Digital Ventures will be leading the network’s digital foray with its flagship VoD
service, VOOT. In its second year of operations, VOOT will look to expand its portfolio,
strengthen its content catalogue, collaborate with like-minded partners, and launch
segmented offerings.
The network’s film studio, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, will keep up to construct content-
driven cinema, while ramping up its regional play, in line with the network’s enhanced focus
on regional entertainment.

Viacom18’s DNA has sanctioned it to pre-empt market shifts and adopt unconventional
approaches to address conventional business challenges. Since establishment, our topline
has grown 40x and channel count has grown over 12x while being PAT profitable. Today,
Viacom18 has 5 diverse lines of business – in addition to a core broadcast contribution now
has a strong presence in digital, filmed, and live entertainment along with a fast-growing
licensing and merchandising operation. Their venture has always been to build a future
ready organization with clear capabilities and a distinctive culture with an emphasis on
developing internal talent. This new structure will energize them as they enter their next
growth phase.

Viacom 18 will be able to take this portfolio of brands to even greater heights as they
leverage deeper synergies.

OUTBOUND LOGICSTICS
Outbound logistics include the activities that deliver the product to the customer by passing through
different intermediaries. Some outbound logistics activities are material handling, warehousing,
scheduling, order processing, transporting, and delivering to the destination. Viacom-18 can analyse
and optimise the outbound logistics to explore competitive advantage sources and achieve its
business growth objectives. Because, when outbound activities are timely managed with optimal
costs and product delivery processes put a minimum negative effect on the quality, it maximises the
customer satisfaction and increases growth opportunities for the firm. Viacom-18 should pay specific
importance to its outbound value chain activities when its offered products are perishable and
require quick delivery to the end customer.

Outbound Logistics once the products have been manufactured, they are to be distributed to
consumers. This distribution is the outbound logistics. In the case of Viacom-18, this includes
distribution of films - which movie distributors they will use to release their films - when new shows
will air and in which networks. This includes TV and digital channels, which are owned by the
company.
VIACOM-18 SERVICES:
Over the last 10 years, Viacom18 has attained a sizeable share in the Indian television space.
With a 44-channel bouquet (14 overseas) and five businesses, the company has had to take
some disrupting decisions, some of which have paid off. They are very highly dependent on
advertising, so its share tends to be around 80%. As per the financial statement of
subsidiaries disclosed by Network18, the holding company of TV18 (which owns 50% in
Viacom18), Viacom18 had booked a net profit of Rs 30.6 crore in the financial year ended
March 31, 2017, on a consolidated revenue of Rs 3,036.5 crore. The revenue saw about 8%
increase over the previous fiscal.

The gestation losses on launch of OTT platform Voot, Hindi movie channel Rishtey Cineplex
and Kannada GEC Colors Super pulled down the net profit, which was at Rs 141.5 crore in
the previous year. But Viacom18 needs to up its game to compete with brands like Star
India, Sony Pictures Networks and ZEEL. The challenge is to balance and build the portfolio
to reduce dependency on Colors. Five years ago, when he took over the reins of the
network, 80% of ad revenue came from Colors. That number has now come down to about
52%. Media is a scale business and Viacom’s TV broadcast portfolio has few gaps which
could be filled over a period. And the magic word is segmentation. The second thrust is to
plug white spaces.

While Viacom18 will enter Tamil early next year with Colors Tamil, it will alongside work on
strengthening the channels in Bangla, Odia, and Marathi. The belief is that regional is highly
under indexed on every medium, and the need is to drive regional films, and on Voot,
regional originals and user experience.

THE CHALLENGES
Viacom18 is focused on providing its audiences with highly personalized experiences. The
core of this strategy is building powerful customer analytics on their terabytes of daily
viewer data. Unfortunately, Viacom18’s Data Lake, which was leveraging Hadoop, was not
able to optimally process 90 days of rolling data within their management’s defined SLAs,
limiting their ability to deliver on their analytics needs. Their challenges included:
• Massive volumes of data: Difficulties ingesting up to 1TB of daily viewer data.
• Data processing at scale: Unable to process 90 days of rolling data within the required
SLAs for their business needs.
• Infrastructure complexity: Provisioning clusters for ETL required significant DevOps
resources resulting in high-operational costs.

THE SOLUTION
Databricks provides Viacom18 with a Unified Data Analytics Platform that modernizes its
data warehousing capabilities and accelerates data processing at scale. Key features include:
• Automated Cluster Management: Fully managed platform with auto-scaling cluster
management capabilities significantly simplifies infrastructure management while reducing
costs.
• Faster Data Processing: Ability to cache data with managed Delta Lake on Databricks
resulting in accelerated queries at scale.
• Collaborative Notebooks: Common workspace for teams to work together across the data
and machine learning lifecycle increased data science (model training) and data engineering
(ad hoc analysis, dashboarding, and reporting) productivity.

SERVICES: ON AIR
With 46 channels reaching out to 80 countries in 8 languages, across age groups, Viacom18's
on air shows deliver the most entertaining, enriching and engaging content in India. Our
General Entertainment Channels entertain India in Hindi, English and 6 regional languages.
Other channels feature youth-oriented content, music, and children's entertainment.
DIGITAL
VOOT by Viacom18 is a video on-demand platform, part of a digital arm of Viacom18 - one
of the country's largest growing media networks. With over 45,000 hours of exciting content
of audiences with varying choices and preferences, covering COLORS (Hindi), MTV,
Nickelodeon, Viacom18 Motion Pictures and MTV Indies, VOOT by Viacom18 offers the
biggest TV Shows, Blockbuster movies, your favorite toons and VOOT originals. VOOT looks
at capturing the digital entertainment landscape with fresh, new-age content on a fresh,
new-age platform.

VOOT ORIGINALS

Gripping, unique and binge worthy content that you have a first-hand, exclusive access to
only on the VOOT App. Engaging dramas, comedies, spoofs and everything in between -
VOOT Originals provides fresh, new-age content on a fresh, new-age destination

VOOT KIDS
VOOT boasts of the biggest bouquet of Kids content - The most popular series and the most
popular characters of the likes of Motu Patlu, Chhota Bheem, Pokemon, Kung Fu Panda,
Dora, and SpongeBob - all at one convenient location. The application allows for parental
control while browsing the app with a special Security Pin. Other innovative features such as
"Shake to change content" make the application an experience over and above a mere video
consumption destination. With a grandiose array of local and international content, VOOT
Kids is set to become one of the most sought-after Kid's Entertainment platforms

VOOT SELECT
Voot Select is Viacom18's newest foray into the subscription VoD services. Now available
across platforms, Voot Select houses some of the most edgy and disruptive stories crafted
by new age and imaginative storytellers. In a first in the Indian industry, Voot Select brings
the best of content from Viacom18’s extensive portfolio of channels on the digital platform
24 hours before the episodes debut on TV! To bring alive its vision for how digital India
views content, Voot Select will house path-breaking Originals, global content through
partnerships with some of the biggest International studios, 1500+ cult blockbuster movies
and stream over 35+ live TV channels.

MERCHANDISE
Viacom18 Consumer Products is a significant player in the ever-growing consumer products
space with its diverse portfolio. Through various associations, Viacom18 has cut beyond the
conventional categories giving the consumers a slice of its brands such as MTV, Vh1,
Nickelodeon, Comedy Central along with a growing portfolio of acquired third party brands.

KIDS
The Kids consumer products portfolio consists of over 50+ categories available across
10,000+ retail touch points since its commencement in 2006. We aim to bring alive our
favorite characters and brands through exciting products across categories.
YOUTH
As part of the Viacom18 Consumer Products business, we license iconic Youth brands like
MTV, Roadies, South Park, Supersonic and Colors to create interesting products that
embody the youthful DNA of each of these brands to the fullest. The intention is to
surround the target consumers through an ecosystem of tangible products outside the
channel experience.
KIDS & YOUTH
The Viacom18 Consumer Products umbrella has a plethora of brands in both the Kids and
Youth clusters. We cater to a large audience by creating innovative merchandise that reach
out to infants, kids, and young adults by being a part of of their everyday lives.

LIVE PROPERTIES
Integrated Network Solutions brings a unique & impactful experience to brands through a
revolutionary combination of multi-dimensional marketing platforms. INS provide exposure,
which is Insightful, Inspiring, and Instant in connecting with audiences across age groups.
LIVE EVENTS

LIVE Events engages with millions of consumers through impactful large format live
properties such as Vh1 SUPERSONIC MTV VMAI, Nickelodeon KCA, Emerge, MTV Xtreme,
and Comedy Central Chuckle Festival amongst others.

BE VIACOM18

BE Viacom18 leverages the power of One Viacom18. It customizes in-programme and in-film
opportunities for brands across Viacom18 channels and Motion Pictures.

CINEMA

Viacom18 Studios Pictures is India's finest fully integrated Studios pictures studio that has
emerged as a force to reckon with by delivering a stream of critically and commercially
successful films. Offering differentiated and meaningful cinema, some of its iconic releases
have been Toilet - Ek Prem Katha (2017), Drishyam (2015), Gabbar is Back (2015), Margarita
with a Straw (2015), Manjhi The Mountain Man (2015), Mary Kom (2014), Queen (2014),
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), Madras Café (2013), Special 26 (2013) and Kahaani (2012) to
name a few. Viacom18 Studios Pictures is also one of the few studios to have successfully
ventured into regional films across languages like Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and from the
South. The Studio has also backed path-breaking and much-appreciated creative work in the
form of hits like Bombay Talkies, Gangs of Wasseypur I and II, OMG - Oh My God!, Dharam
Sankat Main, Manjunath, Shaitan, That Girl in Yellow Boots, Pyaar ka Punchnama and Pyaar
Ka Punchnama 2, Inkaar, Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns, Rahasya and Boss amongst
others. The strategic alliance with Paramount Pictures to market and distribute PPI line-up
in the Indian sub-continent has seen blockbusters like Transformers Dark of the Moon,
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Madagascar 3, Hugo, Paranormal Activity, G.I. Joe:
Retaliation, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Noah, Transformers – Age of Extinction, Terminator
Genisys and Mission Impossible : Rogue Nation to name a few

SHOWCASE
Viacom18 Studios Pictures produces a slate that appeals to film buffs across genres -
whether action, drama, comedy, suspense, romance, social or more... Catch a glimpse of our
recent releases right here!

MOVIES
A multifaceted studio that produces engaging narratives, memorable characters, and
superlative performances - we at Viacom18 Studios Pictures believe these to be the
ingredients of successful films. Shaping the new Bollywood in the true sense, VMP has
paved the way for differentiated cinema since inception.

SONGS
They say, music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be
silent. Here are our chart-toppers and tunes from our latest releases which have left
everyone speechless and asking for more.

MARKETING AND SALES SALES OF VIACOM-18

Corporate Social responsibility is one of the ways a company attempts to market itself with
the purpose of not only increasing revenue for themselves but also contribute to the
society, it their own ways. Viacom18 is known as ‘a brand with a Humane Purpose’, which is
[precisely why they CSR activities are bifurcated into 4 categories or areas of contribution.
1. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
• Launch of Chakachak Mumbai shaped the company’s CSR policy in 2014 when the
team identified WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) as one of our key focus areas.
With the help of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the wanted to free
Mumbai from open defecation by 2019.
• Navrangi Re! Was launched through a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, through the BBC media action to create a generic entertainment fiction
series to create a behavior change message on sanitation.
• Behaviour Change through art and communication aimed on the cleanliness of mind
and body.
• Infrastructure helped create community toilets across slum areas.

2. Education
• The Nudge to prove for the underprivileged. They also have dived into giving
economic independence to the Indian Youth
 • Viacom 18 partnered with the Akshay Patra Foundation to launch the Feed the
Future Now movement which aims to provide 5 billion meals by the year 2020, so
that no child is deprived of quality education due to malnutrition.
• Donate a mile is also an employee engagement program helmed by Mr. Sudhanshu
Vats who is an avid marathon runner himself to contribute to girl’s education.
• Job Switch. On Teachers' Day, Viacom 18 joined forces with Akanksha Foundation for
an interesting activity. Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats and COO, Raj Nayak changed
spots with two kids from schools under the establishment's consideration. While our
pioneers went to their school to instruct; these two children went to the office to fill
in for them. This activity intends to urge youngsters to come and educate in
homerooms and Viacom18 cooperated with Akanksha Foundation to spread this
message.

3. Art and Culture

Aims to preserve the Indian cultural heritage

4. Women Empowerment.

Viacom18's selection of the narrative "Girls of Mother India" is another such disturbance in
its excursion towards affecting and affecting existences of each Indian. The honor winning
film grandstands the genuine legends that work enthusiastically out of sight to empower 1.2
billion conform to social changes and adjust to new cultural difficulties and address issues in
a positive and reformist way. To exhibit its help to this activity, Viacom18 screened the film
over the entirety of its direct stages in 5 distinct dialects. Through this move, Viacom18
intends to make a benchmark in the business and give these up and coming issues the
correct acknowledgment it merits.
Viacom 18 is also getting a lot into merchandising. From their understanding due to the
absence of independent reports measuring market share, Viacom used their market
intelligence and triangulated information to know that they are on no2 in the market after
Disney.
Viacom 18 uses their TV and digital networks, making it selective. They have more than
a hundred licensing arrangement across all their brands. They promote core and selective
products which are strategic to the brand. They also look at promotions through sellers. The
biggest challenge is to drive discoverability of their brands on e-commerce platforms. As it is
a key issue, they work with their sellers to understand how to become more discoverable in
terms of the service level, user reviews and in the way they market. Local Indian animation
is something Nickelodeon is doing impressively. They are best in this space and over the
most recent two years they've had 'Motu Patlu' detonate on the screen. 'Shiva' and 'Mr.
Rudra' are additionally, doing amazingly well. To begin with, one must get well known, at
that point you must beginning taking care of the market and bit by bit it gets embraced at a
considerably more immense level. They see great occasions ahead for Indian liveliness and
authorized product. And yet, what must be remembered is that a portion of the product is
likewise about purchasing something, premium.
It is one thing to see a brand on TV and another to need to wear it on you. Popularity
on TV and prevalence in merchandise are two altogether different things. Each mainstream
TV show won't have a permitting project and the other way around.
ANALYSIS OF SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES
1. Firm Infrastructure

Firm infrastructure consists of several activities including management, planning, financial,

accounting, government affairs, quality management and legal systems. Infrastructure often
supports the entire value chain, rather than individual activities. In accounting, firm
infrastructure actions are often collectively known as ‘overhead’ costs.

However, these activities shouldn’t be taken lightly since they may possibly be one of the
most powerful sources of competitive advantage to Viacom 18 and all other businesses.
The reason why these activities are crucial is because they are the process through which a
product is delivered to the market. If we take the example of Viacom 18’s OTT platform,
Voot, the final delivery of this platform to its target audience depends on if the company has
met its legal obligations, or if the planning of the consumer experience and ease of use was
done thoroughly or not.

Creating the infrastructure needed is the only way to a successful company. Therefore, it is
important to understand how all the different activities within firm infrastructure work
together towards giving Viamcom18 or VOOT a competitive advantage.

2. Human Resource Management

Human resource management covers all the processes involved in managing employees and
hiring new personnel. HRM entails activities involved in the recruiting, hiring, and firing,
training, development, and compensation of all employees.

HRM influences the competitive advantage in Viacom 18, as it would in any firm, through
determining skills and motivation of recruits and the cost of hiring and teaching them. If
employees are unmotivated or dislike the work culture, they are unlikely to put their best
foot forward.

Thus Viacom 18 devotes a sum of their profits to employee satisfaction. Viacom18 also
emerged in the “Dream Companies to Work for” Award at the Sixth Edition of Asia’s
Best Employer Brand Awards 2015, Singapore. It has also received Award for HR
Strategy”, Award for Innovative Practices in HR”, “Award for Talent Management” and
“Award for Excellence in HR through Technology”.
This kind of an award-winning workplace culture was carefully planned, crafted, and
strategized to obtain best possible results. Staying ahead of the curve in the media and
entertainment industry and building a people focused business with the promotion of
a culture of happy employees is the only way to go for Viacom 18.

3. Technology Development
Technology development leads to business innovation. And technology can be used in
several steps of the value chain to gain a competitive advantage by increasing efficiency or
decreasing production costs.
Every value activity signifies the importance of technology. The amount of technology used
in companies is very broad and disparate. Technology development activities also known as
Research and development activities or R&D are used to further investigate upon any topic
or problem and find suitable solutions or new ideas that can be used to improve the existing
product and the process. For example, Viacom’s telecommunication technology, product
design research and customer servicing procedures can all be classified here.

4. Procurement
This is the process through which resources and materials for a product are sourced and
suppliers are found. The objective is to find quality supplies that are in line with the
business' budget. Procurement is needed to assist multiple value chain activities, not just
inbound logistics. It includes procuring raw materials, supplies and other consumable items
as well as assets such as machinery, laboratory equipment, office equipment and buildings.
So if for example Viacom 18 wanted to set up a new office for VOOT or VOOT Kids, it would
firstly have to find an office, then furnishings, take care of water, electricity, gas etc. and all
other requirements as needed for a business enterprise. All of this will fall under
procurement. The reason why procurement is such an essential part of the value chain is
since it breaks down everything that the business requires to fully function, as well as plans,
budgets and executes these needs.

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