Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia
Founded by Priscilla and Raymond Lee and headed by chief executive officer Stephen Miller, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was perhaps the world's first long-haul, low-cost carrier. The airline received approval to fly to London, Cologne, Berlin, Milan, Oakland and Chicago in November 2005. It announced its acquisition of two Boeing 747-400s in March 2006 and planned to start its maiden service to London Gatwick in October 2006. Aspiring to bring the best features of both traditional and budget airlines together, the airline pioneered a business model that offered a world-class, long-haul product at an affordable price, but it was too early to tell if the airline would be successful.
Authors :: Andrew Lee, Gary Chan, Venkat Subramanian
Swot Analysis of "Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia" written by Andrew Lee, Gary Chan, Venkat Subramanian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Haul Oasis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business models, Marketing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Haul Oasis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Haul Oasis 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Haul Oasis
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 Haul Oasis
Strengths Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Haul Oasis in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Haul Oasis is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Haul Oasis 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 Haul Oasis is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Haul Oasis 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 Andrew Lee, Gary Chan, Venkat Subramanian 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Haul Oasis 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Haul Oasis is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Haul Oasis is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Haul Oasis has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Haul Oasis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Haul Oasis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Haul Oasis has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Haul Oasis 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Haul Oasis in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Haul Oasis has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Haul Oasis to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Haul Oasis has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Haul Oasis has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia HBR case study mentions - Haul Oasis 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, Haul Oasis 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. Haul Oasis 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Haul Oasis 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Haul Oasis needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Haul Oasis 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.
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 Haul Oasis supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Haul Oasis vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Haul Oasis 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Haul Oasis 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andrew Lee, Gary Chan, Venkat Subramanian suggests that, Haul Oasis 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Haul Oasis is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Haul Oasis needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Haul Oasis to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia | 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia are -
Buying journey improvements
– Haul Oasis can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Haul Oasis 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Haul Oasis 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.
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. Haul Oasis can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Haul Oasis 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Haul Oasis to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Haul Oasis can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Haul Oasis operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Haul Oasis 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Haul Oasis 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.
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 Haul Oasis in the consumer business. Now Haul Oasis can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Haul Oasis 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, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Haul Oasis 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 Haul Oasis can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Haul Oasis to increase its market reach. Haul Oasis 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.
Threats Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia are -
Environmental challenges
– Haul Oasis 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. Haul Oasis can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Haul Oasis 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.
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 Haul Oasis business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Haul Oasis 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.
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.
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. Haul Oasis 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 Haul Oasis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Haul Oasis has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Haul Oasis 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
– Haul Oasis 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 Haul Oasis
– 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 Haul Oasis.
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. Haul Oasis 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia, Haul Oasis 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Oasis Hong Kong Airlines: The First Long-Haul, Low-Cost Carrier in Asia 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 Haul Oasis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.