From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment
Case B: Mark Chan decided to move back home to Singapore and accepted a lower rank position compared to the one he held overseas. He started to feel bored with his job after a few months. His attempts to find a new job that was requisite with his experience and skills within his company did not yield any results. His wife and children also experienced problems adjusting back to life in Singapore. The case ends with Mark Chan taking the first step to find a new job.
Swot Analysis of "From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment" written by Gunter Stahl, Hwee Chua Chei includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chan Mark facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership development and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chan Mark, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chan Mark
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 Chan Mark
Strengths From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chan Mark in From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Chan Mark in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Chan Mark 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment - 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
– Chan Mark has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chan Mark to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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.
Organizational Resilience of Chan Mark
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Chan Mark does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Chan Mark to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Chan Mark to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Chan Mark is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Chan Mark is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Chan Mark is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Chan Mark digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Chan Mark 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Chan Mark in the sector have low bargaining power. From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Chan Mark to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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 Chan Mark supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment, in the dynamic environment Chan Mark has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Chan Mark has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Chan Mark has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gunter Stahl, Hwee Chua Chei suggests that, Chan Mark 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Chan Mark is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Chan Mark needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Chan Mark to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Chan Mark 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Chan Mark 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Chan Mark is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment, it seems that the employees of Chan Mark 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment HBR case study mentions - Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment | 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Chan Mark 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chan Mark 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 Chan Mark to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Chan Mark is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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
– Chan Mark 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.
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 Chan Mark 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Chan Mark to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Chan Mark can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Chan Mark 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Chan Mark 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chan Mark 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Chan Mark 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, From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Chan Mark 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Chan Mark has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Chan Mark to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment case study. Chan Mark can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment are -
Increasing wage structure of Chan Mark
– 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 Chan Mark.
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 Chan Mark business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Chan Mark 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment, Chan Mark 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 .
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Chan Mark 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Chan Mark 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Chan Mark 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment .
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 Chan Mark.
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. Chan Mark needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Chan Mark is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Chan Mark 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. Chan Mark can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Chan Mark 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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 From Jaguar to Bluebird (B): Mark Chan Returns Home after his Expatriate Assignment 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 Chan Mark needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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