Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger
The case tracks Vietnam's economic policy choices and performance from the end of the Vietnam war to the Doi Moi economic reforms and the economic transformation that followed. Throughout this period, the country had become a darling of the international aid community. As the country was preparing for the 2011 Party Congress, however, signs of growing economic frictions were becoming increasingly visible. The case closes by setting the scene for the challenges the new leadership was going to face.
Authors :: Michael E. Porter, Christian H.M. Ketels
Swot Analysis of "Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger" written by Michael E. Porter, Christian H.M. Ketels includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vietnam Economic facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Economics, Economy, Emerging markets, Leadership, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vietnam Economic, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vietnam Economic 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vietnam Economic
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 Vietnam Economic
Strengths Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vietnam Economic in Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Vietnam Economic to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Vietnam Economic to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Vietnam Economic 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vietnam Economic is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam Economic
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Vietnam Economic does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vietnam Economic is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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
– Vietnam Economic has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vietnam Economic 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Vietnam Economic is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Vietnam Economic 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 Michael E. Porter, Christian H.M. Ketels 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.
High brand equity
– Vietnam Economic has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Vietnam Economic to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Vietnam Economic 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Vietnam Economic is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Vietnam Economic in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Vietnam Economic has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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.
Weaknesses Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger are -
Need for greater diversity
– Vietnam Economic 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vietnam Economic is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael E. Porter, Christian H.M. Ketels suggests that, Vietnam Economic 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Vietnam Economic 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. Vietnam Economic 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Vietnam Economic products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Vietnam Economic needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Vietnam Economic 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger, is just above the industry average. Vietnam Economic 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam Economic 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vietnam Economic is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger, it seems that the employees of Vietnam Economic 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger, 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.
Opportunities Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger | 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Vietnam Economic 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.
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. Vietnam Economic 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. Vietnam Economic 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. Vietnam Economic can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Vietnam Economic 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Vietnam Economic 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Vietnam Economic can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Vietnam Economic operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Vietnam Economic to increase its market reach. Vietnam Economic 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vietnam Economic is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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.
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. Vietnam Economic can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Vietnam Economic 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Vietnam Economic 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Vietnam Economic 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Vietnam Economic can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Vietnam Economic with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Vietnam Economic is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Vietnam Economic
– 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 Vietnam Economic.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Vietnam Economic in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline 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. Vietnam Economic can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger, Vietnam Economic 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Vietnam Economic 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.
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 Vietnam Economic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vietnam Economic has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vietnam Economic 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Vietnam Economic 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vietnam Economic 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger .
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. Vietnam Economic needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam: Sustaining the Growth of an Asian Tiger 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 Vietnam Economic needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.