Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd.
This case is about the establishment, growth, and direction of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park ("Zhangjiang Park"), which is located in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. Considered to be one of the most competitive hi-tech industry clusters in China, the combined business strategy of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. ("Zhangjiang Hi-Tech"), a key operator of Zhangjiang Park, included real estate development, hi-tech investment, and integrated services. As of the time of the case, members of the Board of Directors of Zhangjiang Hi-Tech were faced with open questions such as how Zhangjiang Park would be able to maintain its sustainable competitiveness in comparison with other hi-tech and industrial parks in China. Board members were also concerned with how Zhangjiang Hi-Tech would be able to meet the needs of both capital market and regional development.
Authors :: Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-Hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng
Swot Analysis of "Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd." written by Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-Hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Zhangjiang Tech facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economic development, Policy, Sustainability, Technology and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zhangjiang Tech, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zhangjiang Tech 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zhangjiang Tech
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 Zhangjiang Tech
Strengths Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Zhangjiang Tech in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Zhangjiang Tech is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Zhangjiang Tech is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Zhangjiang Tech has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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.
Organizational Resilience of Zhangjiang Tech
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Zhangjiang Tech does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Zhangjiang Tech 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 Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-Hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Zhangjiang Tech has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Zhangjiang Tech has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Zhangjiang Tech to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Zhangjiang Tech 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Zhangjiang Tech in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Zhangjiang Tech is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd., is just above the industry average. Zhangjiang Tech needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Zhangjiang Tech products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Zhangjiang Tech needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd., in the dynamic environment Zhangjiang Tech has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Zhangjiang Tech has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd., it seems that the employees of Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Zhangjiang Tech, firm in the HBR case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-Hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng suggests that, Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Zhangjiang Tech is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. HBR case study mentions - Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Opportunities Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. | 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Zhangjiang Tech to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Zhangjiang Tech is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Zhangjiang Tech has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Zhangjiang Tech has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Zhangjiang Tech to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. case study. Zhangjiang Tech can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Zhangjiang Tech 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.
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 Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Zhangjiang Tech can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Zhangjiang Tech can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Zhangjiang Tech can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
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. Zhangjiang Tech can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Zhangjiang Tech can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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.
Threats Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. are -
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. Zhangjiang Tech 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.
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 Zhangjiang Tech business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Zhangjiang Tech needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Zhangjiang Tech 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 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.
Increasing wage structure of Zhangjiang Tech
– 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 Zhangjiang Tech.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Zhangjiang Tech has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Zhangjiang Tech 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.
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 Zhangjiang Tech.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Zhangjiang Tech 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.
Environmental challenges
– Zhangjiang Tech 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. Zhangjiang Tech can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Zhangjiang Tech in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd. 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 Zhangjiang Tech needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
