AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market
The Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") was established in December 2000 in Hong Kong to provide a formal, government-supervised retirement protection vehicle for the local population. As a major MPF service provider, AIA-JF made a revolutionary move in launching the first socially responsible investment ("SRI") fund, the Green Fund, in the MPF market. SRI was a relatively new concept in Hong Kong, though it had been growing rapidly in the U.S. and Europe since the mid-1980s. In the first year of its launch, the Green Fund attracted US$5 million, as targeted. However, the company had to quadruple the fund size to US$20 million in three years' time with economically viable marketing approaches. Illustrates the special characteristics of marketing investment products, particularly in target market selection, and allows students the opportunity to recommend marketing strategies targeted at corporate and individual consumers.
Swot Analysis of "AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market" written by Ricky Chan, Amy Tang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mpf Fund facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing,
there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mpf Fund, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mpf Fund 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mpf Fund
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 Mpf Fund
Strengths AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mpf Fund in AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Mpf Fund 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 Ricky Chan, Amy Tang 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mpf Fund
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mpf Fund does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mpf Fund 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Mpf Fund 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 Mpf Fund in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mpf Fund is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mpf Fund has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mpf Fund 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mpf Fund 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mpf Fund is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mpf Fund to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mpf Fund to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mpf Fund 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mpf Fund 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.
Weaknesses AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ricky Chan, Amy Tang suggests that, Mpf Fund 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 Mpf Fund is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Mpf Fund needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mpf Fund to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market, in the dynamic environment Mpf Fund has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mpf Fund has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mpf Fund, firm in the HBR case study AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Mpf Fund has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mpf Fund 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 - AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mpf Fund is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market, is just above the industry average. Mpf Fund 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 Mpf Fund has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mpf Fund 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market HBR case study mentions - Mpf Fund 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market | 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mpf Fund can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mpf Fund can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mpf Fund in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mpf Fund 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.
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 Mpf Fund in the consumer business. Now Mpf Fund can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mpf Fund 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mpf Fund 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. Mpf Fund 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mpf Fund 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 Mpf Fund 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mpf Fund 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mpf Fund is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mpf Fund to increase its market reach. Mpf Fund 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mpf Fund 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.
Threats AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market are -
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. Mpf Fund needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Mpf Fund 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. Mpf Fund can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Mpf Fund
– 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 Mpf Fund.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mpf Fund 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mpf Fund 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market, Mpf Fund 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mpf Fund is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mpf Fund 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mpf Fund 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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 Mpf Fund 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 Mpf Fund with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mpf Fund 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market .
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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 AIA-JF Green Fund--Differentiation in Funds Market 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 Mpf Fund needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.