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Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

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?

Authors :: Wesley R. Hartmann, Arar Han

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Entrepreneurial finance, Globalization, Market research, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc



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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 -

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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Restaurant Securities is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Restaurant Securities 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

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.

Innovation driven organization

– Restaurant Securities is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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

– 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Restaurant Securities is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Restaurant Securities has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Restaurant Securities has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Restaurant Securities 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.

High brand equity

– Restaurant Securities has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Restaurant Securities to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

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.

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.






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 -

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Restaurant Securities has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Restaurant Securities even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A), is just above the industry average. Restaurant Securities 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Restaurant Securities, firm in the HBR case study Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Restaurant Securities is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Restaurant Securities needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Restaurant Securities to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) 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 Restaurant Securities has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Restaurant Securities 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 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.

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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Wesley R. Hartmann, Arar Han suggests that, Restaurant Securities is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

Lack of clear differentiation of Restaurant Securities products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Restaurant Securities needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

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.




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 -

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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Restaurant Securities 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.

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.

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.

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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Restaurant Securities can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Restaurant Securities operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

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.

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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Restaurant Securities 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 Assessing the Chinese Palate: American Securities Capital (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Restaurant Securities to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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.

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.

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.

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.




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 -

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.

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.

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.

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) .

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.

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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Restaurant Securities in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– Restaurant Securities 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.

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.

Environmental challenges

– Restaurant Securities 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. Restaurant Securities can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Restaurant Securities is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. 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.




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.



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