Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam
Mekong Capital, a private equity firm specializing in investing in Vietnam, had grown dramatically since its inception in 2002 and faced numerous organizational issues in 2007. There was a shortage of qualified middle managers, an overall lack of leadership, and a culture of making excuses for performance shortfalls. These issues not only plagued Mekong, but also the portfolio companies that they took positions in. The case recounts how the founder and managing partner of Mekong undertook a process to profoundly change the culture, leadership, and accountability within the company to try to transform it so that its people would align and come together as a team, holding themselves responsible to deliver results and committed to the long-term future.
Authors :: Christopher Marquis, Vinay Ganti, Kevin Smith, Doug Guthrie
Swot Analysis of "Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam" written by Christopher Marquis, Vinay Ganti, Kevin Smith, Doug Guthrie includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mekong Vietnam facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial finance, Financial management, Leadership, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mekong Vietnam, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mekong Vietnam operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mekong Vietnam
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mekong Vietnam
Strengths Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mekong Vietnam in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Mekong Vietnam is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High brand equity
– Mekong Vietnam has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mekong Vietnam to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mekong Vietnam has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mekong Vietnam has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mekong Vietnam in the sector have low bargaining power. Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mekong Vietnam to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mekong Vietnam has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mekong Vietnam has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Mekong Vietnam is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Mekong Vietnam is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Christopher Marquis, Vinay Ganti, Kevin Smith, Doug Guthrie can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mekong Vietnam digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mekong Vietnam has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Mekong Vietnam is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Mekong Vietnam in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mekong Vietnam is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mekong Vietnam to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mekong Vietnam to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mekong Vietnam has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam HBR case study mentions - Mekong Vietnam takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam, it seems that the employees of Mekong Vietnam don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Mekong Vietnam supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mekong Vietnam vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Mekong Vietnam 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Christopher Marquis, Vinay Ganti, Kevin Smith, Doug Guthrie suggests that, Mekong Vietnam is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Need for greater diversity
– Mekong Vietnam has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mekong Vietnam has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mekong Vietnam has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mekong Vietnam has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Mekong Vietnam even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mekong Vietnam can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mekong Vietnam can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mekong Vietnam to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Mekong Vietnam to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mekong Vietnam has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mekong Vietnam to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Mekong Vietnam can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mekong Vietnam can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mekong Vietnam can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Mekong Vietnam to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Manufacturing automation
– Mekong Vietnam can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Buying journey improvements
– Mekong Vietnam can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mekong Vietnam can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mekong Vietnam to increase its market reach. Mekong Vietnam will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mekong Vietnam can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam are -
Environmental challenges
– Mekong Vietnam needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Mekong Vietnam can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam, Mekong Vietnam may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Mekong Vietnam will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mekong Vietnam can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mekong Vietnam high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mekong Vietnam in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Mekong Vietnam.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Mekong Vietnam needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Mekong Vietnam needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mekong Vietnam with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Mekong Vietnam
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Mekong Vietnam.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Mekong Vietnam needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.