Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A)
American Securities Capital (AS), a private equity firm based in New York City, seeks to research and analyze the Chinese foodservice market, to assess opportunities for AS portfolio restaurant chains and identify additional restaurant related opportunities. Tasked with this project is a newly hired director (post-MBA, ex-consultant) in AS's Shanghai office. A market survey has now been conducted. What are the appropriate takeaways? How can AS segment the market, and what does each segment want from a Western dining experience?
Swot Analysis of "Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A)" written by Wesley R. Hartmann, Arar Han includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Restaurant Securities facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial finance, Globalization, Market research and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Restaurant Securities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Restaurant Securities 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Restaurant Securities
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Restaurant Securities
Strengths Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Restaurant Securities in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Restaurant Securities 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 Restaurant Securities in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Restaurant Securities has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Restaurant Securities digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Restaurant Securities 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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.
Analytics focus
– Restaurant Securities 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 Wesley R. Hartmann, Arar Han 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Restaurant Securities 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Restaurant Securities in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Restaurant Securities in the sector have low bargaining power. Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Restaurant Securities to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Restaurant Securities 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Restaurant Securities
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Restaurant Securities does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Restaurant Securities 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 Restaurant Securities is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Restaurant Securities is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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.
Weaknesses Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A), it seems that the employees of Restaurant Securities 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Restaurant Securities 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Restaurant Securities 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Restaurant Securities 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 - Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Restaurant Securities supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Restaurant Securities vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Restaurant Securities 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) HBR case study mentions - Restaurant Securities 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Restaurant Securities 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A), in the dynamic environment Restaurant Securities has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Restaurant Securities has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Restaurant Securities 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) | 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Restaurant Securities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Restaurant Securities to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) case study. Restaurant Securities can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Restaurant Securities 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 Restaurant Securities to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Restaurant Securities 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.
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 Restaurant Securities 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Restaurant Securities to increase its market reach. Restaurant Securities 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Restaurant Securities can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Restaurant Securities in the consumer business. Now Restaurant Securities can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Restaurant Securities can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Restaurant Securities can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Restaurant Securities 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 Restaurant Securities 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Restaurant Securities 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Restaurant Securities can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) are -
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 Restaurant Securities.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Restaurant Securities 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
– Restaurant Securities has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Restaurant Securities needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
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. Restaurant Securities needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A), Restaurant Securities may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Restaurant Securities 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.
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.
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 Restaurant Securities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Restaurant Securities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Restaurant Securities in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Restaurant Securities with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Restaurant Securities 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Restaurant Securities 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Restaurant Securities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
