China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise

Science Fiction World (SFW) was set up in 1979 as a publishing unit of China's state-owned Science and Technology Organization to promote science and technology. For more than three decades, this leading science fiction publisher had survived China's tightly regulated publishing industry. However, with the accelerated technological and social changes sweeping across China, SFW faced new challenges and had to assess how the changes could impact the future sustainability of its print-based book and magazine publishing business.

Authors :: Beng Geok Wee, Jin Jiang Yan, Xizi Chen

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

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

Swot Analysis of "China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise" written by Beng Geok Wee, Jin Jiang Yan, Xizi Chen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Science Fiction facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government and Strategy & Execution.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Science Fiction, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Science Fiction 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Science Fiction
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 Science Fiction

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Strengths China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Science Fiction in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Science Fiction is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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.

Learning organization

- Science Fiction 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 Science Fiction is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Science Fiction to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Science Fiction to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Science Fiction in the sector have low bargaining power. China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Science Fiction to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment

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

Innovation driven organization

– Science Fiction is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Diverse revenue streams

– Science Fiction is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Science Fiction 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Science Fiction 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Science Fiction 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Science Fiction 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.

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Weaknesses China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise are -

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Science Fiction is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 Science Fiction has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 Science Fiction 's lucrative customers.

Need for greater diversity

– Science Fiction 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 Science Fiction 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 - China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Science Fiction supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Science Fiction vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise, is just above the industry average. Science Fiction 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Science Fiction, firm in the HBR case study China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise, in the dynamic environment Science Fiction has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Science Fiction has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Science Fiction 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. Science Fiction 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.

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Opportunities China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise | 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise are -

Loyalty marketing

– Science Fiction 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Science Fiction 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Science Fiction to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Science Fiction 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Science Fiction has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Science Fiction to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise case study. Science Fiction can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Science Fiction 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Science Fiction 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Science Fiction can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Science Fiction is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

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

Developing new processes and practices

– Science Fiction 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.

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. Science Fiction can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Science Fiction 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, China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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Threats China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Science Fiction 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Science Fiction 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.

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. Science Fiction 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Science Fiction with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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.

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

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 Science Fiction business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Science Fiction is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Science Fiction in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Science Fiction needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Regulatory challenges

– Science Fiction 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.

Increasing wage structure of Science Fiction

– 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 Science Fiction.

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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 China's Science Fiction World Publisher - Developing a New Business Strategy for a Small Enterprise 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 Science Fiction needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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