Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity
Pioneering the discount store concept in cosmetic retailing in Hong Kong, Eleanor and Simon Kwok had succeeded in building Sa Sa into one of Asia's largest cosmetic and beauty service retailers. Enunciates Sa Sa's growth in the face of a host of environmental contretemps, including the Asian financial crisis and the SARS pandemic. Escalating rents coupled with lower-than-expected tourism figures harbingered continual turbulence in its core market, Hong Kong. Under pressure to maintain margins, other causes of concern were continued losses from its operations in China and the unsatisfactory performance of its beauty services division. Additionally, it appeared that Sa Sa was facing a positioning paradox--that of being a low-cost retailer, stocking goods from parallel imports, while trying to project the upmarket image required by the global brands it stocked. Evaluating Sa Sa's current status, students can develop strategies that would enable Sa Sa's continued success and ability to compete in the changing retail environment.
Swot Analysis of "Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity" written by Kavita Sethi, Stephen Ko includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sa Sa's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Entrepreneurship and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sa Sa's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sa Sa's
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 Sa Sa's
Strengths Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sa Sa's in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Sa Sa's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sa Sa's in the sector have low bargaining power. Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sa Sa's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sa Sa's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sa Sa's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sa Sa's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sa Sa's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sa Sa's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sa Sa's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sa Sa's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa's 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.
Analytics focus
– Sa Sa's 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 Kavita Sethi, Stephen Ko 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Sa Sa's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sa Sa's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity, is just above the industry average. Sa Sa's needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on 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 Sa Sa's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sa Sa's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity, it seems that the employees of Sa Sa's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sa Sa's, firm in the HBR case study Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sa Sa's 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, Sa Sa's 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sa Sa's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Sa Sa's 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity HBR case study mentions - Sa Sa's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sa Sa's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity | 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa's to increase its market reach. Sa Sa's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Sa Sa's 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sa Sa's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sa Sa's 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sa Sa's 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. Sa Sa's 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. Sa Sa's 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.
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. Sa Sa's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sa Sa's 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.
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. Sa Sa's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sa Sa's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Sa Sa's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sa Sa's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sa Sa's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity case study. Sa Sa's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity are -
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 Sa Sa's.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sa Sa's 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.
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. Sa Sa's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Sa Sa's 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sa Sa's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Sa Sa's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Sa Sa's
– 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 Sa Sa's.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sa Sa's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity, Sa Sa's 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 .
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. Sa Sa's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sa Sa's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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 Sa Sa International: Growth Amidst Adversity 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 Sa Sa's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.