INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia
In June 1998, The Board of Directors of INSEAD, a leading international business school based in Fontainebleau (France) had to decide to proceed with an investment in a second campus in Singapore. Over the past 20 years INSEAD had established an international reputation and had developed some expertise on Asian business. The case presents the history of the project, the process by which the idea was transformed into an investment proposal and presents various views on the potential and risks of such development. FOR INSTRUCTORS: A supplement to the teaching note (INS719) for this case is available. Click on the "Teaching Note" section.
Authors :: Philippe Lasserre, Sam Garg, Arnoud De Meyer
Swot Analysis of "INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia" written by Philippe Lasserre, Sam Garg, Arnoud De Meyer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Insead Fontainebleau facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia casestudy better are - – technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Insead Fontainebleau, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Insead Fontainebleau 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Insead Fontainebleau
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Insead Fontainebleau
Strengths INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Insead Fontainebleau in INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Insead Fontainebleau digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Insead Fontainebleau to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Insead Fontainebleau to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Insead Fontainebleau is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Insead Fontainebleau has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Insead Fontainebleau 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 Insead Fontainebleau in the sector have low bargaining power. INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Insead Fontainebleau to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Insead Fontainebleau
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Insead Fontainebleau does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Insead Fontainebleau is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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.
Training and development
– Insead Fontainebleau has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Insead Fontainebleau 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Insead Fontainebleau has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Insead Fontainebleau to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Insead Fontainebleau 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Insead Fontainebleau is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Insead Fontainebleau 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. Insead Fontainebleau 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 Insead Fontainebleau 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Insead Fontainebleau 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Philippe Lasserre, Sam Garg, Arnoud De Meyer suggests that, Insead Fontainebleau 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.
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 Insead Fontainebleau supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Insead Fontainebleau vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Insead Fontainebleau, firm in the HBR case study INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Insead Fontainebleau is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Opportunities INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia | 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Insead Fontainebleau 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 Insead Fontainebleau to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Insead Fontainebleau can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Insead Fontainebleau can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Insead Fontainebleau 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 Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Insead Fontainebleau to increase its market reach. Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Insead Fontainebleau 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Insead Fontainebleau has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Insead Fontainebleau to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia case study. Insead Fontainebleau can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Insead Fontainebleau can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Insead Fontainebleau 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Insead Fontainebleau to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Insead Fontainebleau 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. Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Insead Fontainebleau 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, INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia are -
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 Insead Fontainebleau business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Insead Fontainebleau
– 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 Insead Fontainebleau.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Insead Fontainebleau 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia .
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. Insead Fontainebleau 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.
Environmental challenges
– Insead Fontainebleau 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. Insead Fontainebleau can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Insead Fontainebleau is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Insead Fontainebleau demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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 Insead Fontainebleau.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Insead Fontainebleau with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Insead Fontainebleau in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Insead Fontainebleau can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 INSEAD: One School, Two Campuses - Going to Asia 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 Insead Fontainebleau needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.