Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide
This note outlines how leading professional service firms operating in China revise their standard hiring practices to fit local challenges and customs. Based on interviews with professionals in a number of established accounting, strategy consulting, and executive search firms presently operating in China, it explores best practices they use to hire exceptional professionals who will succeed in building high quality client relationships, delivering appropriately innovative thinking, and helping their firms grow and improve performance - all within China's unique political and cultural context.
Swot Analysis of "Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide" written by Heidi K. Gardner includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Professionals Hiring facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Hiring, Human resource management, Operations management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Professionals Hiring, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Professionals Hiring 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Professionals Hiring
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 Professionals Hiring
Strengths Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Professionals Hiring in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Professionals Hiring to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Professionals Hiring to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Professionals Hiring 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 Professionals Hiring in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Professionals Hiring is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Professionals Hiring are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Professionals Hiring is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Professionals Hiring 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Professionals Hiring has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Professionals Hiring 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Professionals Hiring in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Professionals Hiring
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Professionals Hiring does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Professionals Hiring has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Professionals Hiring to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Professionals Hiring has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Professionals Hiring is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide are -
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 Professionals Hiring supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Professionals Hiring vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide, in the dynamic environment Professionals Hiring has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Professionals Hiring has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Professionals Hiring 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Professionals Hiring has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Professionals Hiring, firm in the HBR case study Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Professionals Hiring needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Heidi K. Gardner suggests that, Professionals Hiring 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Professionals Hiring products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Professionals Hiring needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Professionals Hiring has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Professionals Hiring is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide, 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.
Opportunities Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide | 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Professionals Hiring 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 Professionals Hiring to increase its market reach. Professionals Hiring 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Professionals Hiring can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Professionals Hiring 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Professionals Hiring can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Professionals Hiring operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Professionals Hiring can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Professionals Hiring 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Professionals Hiring 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Professionals Hiring 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Professionals Hiring to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Professionals Hiring is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Professionals Hiring 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Professionals Hiring 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Professionals Hiring in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Professionals Hiring 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.
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 Professionals Hiring.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Professionals Hiring 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Professionals Hiring is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Professionals Hiring in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Professionals Hiring 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. Professionals Hiring can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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. Professionals Hiring needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Professionals Hiring business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Professionals Hiring demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Professionals Hiring has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Professionals Hiring needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Professionals Hiring can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Professionals Hiring can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide 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 Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide 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 Professionals Hiring needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.