Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector
Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation (HSC) was established in April of 2003. At the time, it was the 11th securities company to be founded in the Vietnam. From the outset, HSC provided a full range of securities trading and investment banking-related services. HSC was established to help restructure SOEs and to raise capital for development projects. That is, it was founded as a joint-stock company with the largest of the original investors being the Ho Chi Minh City Investment Fund for Urban Development (HIFU). In May of 2007, the Dragon Capital Group (Dragon Capital), a UK-based fund manager that had already established a foothold in Vietnam, took on just under 30% of HSC's shares. That change in ownership structure of HSC prompted a change in the composition of the board of directors and of the management team. The new team took a range of steps to strengthen the company and help distinguish it from rivals. They articulated a set of organisational values and took steps to shape an organisational culture. They shored up the financial foundation of the firm. They deepened and broadened the expertise embedded in different departments of the company. They introduced new products and services in order to penetrate new market segments. Despite a turbulent external environment, at the end of 2008, the team charted a strategy which called for HSC to increase market share.
Swot Analysis of "Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector" written by Michael J. Fratantuono, Luan Nguyen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hsc Minh facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Financial management, Financial markets, Policy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hsc Minh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hsc Minh 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hsc Minh
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 Hsc Minh
Strengths Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hsc Minh in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Hsc Minh
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hsc Minh does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hsc Minh 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.
Analytics focus
– Hsc Minh 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 J. Fratantuono, Luan Nguyen 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Hsc Minh is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hsc Minh 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hsc Minh has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hsc Minh 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hsc Minh 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hsc Minh is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Hsc Minh 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 Hsc Minh in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hsc Minh 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Hsc Minh has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hsc Minh to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Hsc Minh has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hsc Minh is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hsc Minh products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hsc Minh needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hsc Minh, firm in the HBR case study Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hsc Minh is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Hsc Minh needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hsc Minh to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hsc Minh is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Hsc Minh 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector HBR case study mentions - Hsc Minh 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Hsc Minh 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. Hsc Minh 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hsc Minh 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Hsc Minh 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.
Opportunities Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector | 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector are -
Buying journey improvements
– Hsc Minh can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hsc Minh can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hsc Minh operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hsc Minh 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hsc Minh 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, Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Hsc Minh in the consumer business. Now Hsc Minh can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hsc Minh 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 Hsc Minh has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hsc Minh to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector case study. Hsc Minh can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hsc Minh 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hsc Minh 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 Hsc Minh to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hsc Minh 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Hsc Minh 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.
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. Hsc Minh can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Hsc Minh 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.
Threats Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hsc Minh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Hsc Minh
– 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 Hsc Minh.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hsc Minh 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 Hsc Minh.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hsc Minh is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Hsc Minh needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector, Hsc Minh 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hsc Minh 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.
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 Hsc Minh in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Hsc Minh business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hsc Minh has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hsc Minh 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.
Environmental challenges
– Hsc Minh 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. Hsc Minh can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector 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 Hsc Minh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation: Seeking Competitive Advantage in Vietnam's Evolving Financial Sector