Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex

In 1999, the International Horticultural Exposition was held in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in China. Recognised as an international exposition by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the event was organised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), based in Paris, France. It was the first international mega-exposition hosted in China, and had strong support from Kunming's local government agencies. The six-month long exposition (Expo Garden) attracted more than 9 million visitors from around the world with a daily average of 49,000 park visitors and hitting a peak of more than 110,000 visitors in a single day. After the exhibition ended, Kunming government decided to continue to keep the venue open as a tourist destination, and major transformations were made to Expo Garden's management structure and business operations. A decade later, Expo Garden had lost its position as a prime tourist destination in Yunnan, as other destinations such as Dali, Shangri-la and Lijiang became the top tourist draws. During this time, domestic tourists emerged as the main engine of growth in Yunnan's tourism industry. In 2012, the group that owned and managed Expo Gardens, Yunnan Tourism Co. Ltd, a state-owned company listed in the Shenzhen stock exchange, needed a turnaround strategy to enhance the attractiveness of Expo Garden, its major asset. The aim was to: o transform Expo Garden into a major player in Yunnan Province's tourism industry; and o to boost Expo Garden's income growth substantially and improve the financial performance of the company.

Authors :: Russell Arthur Smith, Beng Geok Wee, Wei Chen

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex" written by Russell Arthur Smith, Beng Geok Wee, Wei Chen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Expo Yunnan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Expo Yunnan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Expo Yunnan 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Expo Yunnan
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 Expo Yunnan

---

Strengths Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Expo Yunnan in Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex Harvard Business Review case study are -

Successful track record of launching new products

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Expo Yunnan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Expo Yunnan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Expo Yunnan 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.

High brand equity

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

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Expo Yunnan in the sector have low bargaining power. Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Expo Yunnan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Expo Yunnan 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Training and development

– Expo Yunnan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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.

Analytics focus

– Expo Yunnan 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 Russell Arthur Smith, Beng Geok Wee, Wei Chen 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.

Learning organization

- Expo Yunnan 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 Expo Yunnan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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.

Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Expo Yunnan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Expo Yunnan 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Expo Yunnan 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.

---

---

Weaknesses Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex, it seems that the employees of Expo Yunnan 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Expo Yunnan 's lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex, is just above the industry average. Expo Yunnan 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 Expo Yunnan, firm in the HBR case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Expo Yunnan 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Expo Yunnan 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Expo Yunnan is planning to shift buying processes online.

Lack of clear differentiation of Expo Yunnan products

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

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Expo Yunnan 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Expo Yunnan 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.

---

Opportunities Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex | 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex are -

Buying journey improvements

– Expo Yunnan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Expo Yunnan 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.

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. Expo Yunnan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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. Expo Yunnan 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. Expo Yunnan 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Expo Yunnan 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.

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 Expo Yunnan in the consumer business. Now Expo Yunnan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Expo Yunnan 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 Expo Yunnan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Expo Yunnan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Developing new processes and practices

– Expo Yunnan can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Expo Yunnan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Expo Yunnan to increase its market reach. Expo Yunnan 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Expo Yunnan 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Expo Yunnan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Expo Yunnan 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.

---

Threats Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex are -

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Expo Yunnan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Expo Yunnan needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Expo Yunnan 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Expo Yunnan 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.

Environmental challenges

– Expo Yunnan 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. Expo Yunnan 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 Expo Yunnan is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Expo Yunnan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Expo Yunnan 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex .

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex, Expo Yunnan may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .

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 Expo Yunnan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– Expo Yunnan 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.

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. Expo Yunnan 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.

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 Expo Yunnan in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

---

Weighted SWOT Analysis of Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Yunnan Tourism Co., Ltd: Developing Garden Expo '99 Site into a First-Class Urban Eco-Cultural Complex 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 Expo Yunnan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

--- ---