The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and reactive scheduling. Students use two of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's mainstream processes as a vehicle for analysis. The case describes a real situation in which upper management accepts an emergency order. By working through the impact on the production system, students should develop a feel for how shifting demand in a large factory that is structured as a job shop alters the demands on, and utilization rates of expensive capital equipment in a complex way. As bottlenecks shift, students can explore several alternatives, each with different costs and trade-offs. Students may also reflect on the true cost of providing the extraordinary service, and whether management properly takes the impact on operations into account when it makes customer commitments.
Authors :: Willy Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih, Jack Chang
Swot Analysis of "The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co." written by Willy Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih, Jack Chang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Scheduling Taiwan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management, Technology and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Scheduling Taiwan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Scheduling Taiwan 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Scheduling Taiwan
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Scheduling Taiwan
Strengths The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Scheduling Taiwan in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Scheduling Taiwan 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 Willy Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih, Jack Chang 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Training and development
– Scheduling Taiwan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Scheduling Taiwan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Scheduling Taiwan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Scheduling Taiwan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Scheduling Taiwan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Scheduling Taiwan 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Scheduling Taiwan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Scheduling Taiwan in the sector have low bargaining power. The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Scheduling Taiwan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Scheduling Taiwan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Scheduling Taiwan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Scheduling Taiwan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Scheduling Taiwan 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. Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Scheduling Taiwan is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Scheduling Taiwan 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Willy Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih, Jack Chang suggests that, Scheduling Taiwan 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. HBR case study mentions - Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., it seems that the employees of Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Scheduling Taiwan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Scheduling Taiwan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., in the dynamic environment Scheduling Taiwan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Scheduling Taiwan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Scheduling Taiwan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Scheduling Taiwan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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 Scheduling Taiwan 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. | 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Scheduling Taiwan to increase its market reach. Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Scheduling Taiwan 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, The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Scheduling Taiwan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Scheduling Taiwan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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 Scheduling Taiwan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Scheduling Taiwan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. case study. Scheduling Taiwan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Scheduling Taiwan 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Scheduling Taiwan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Scheduling Taiwan 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 Scheduling Taiwan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Scheduling Taiwan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Scheduling Taiwan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Scheduling Taiwan can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
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 Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Threats The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are -
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Scheduling Taiwan 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Scheduling Taiwan 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Scheduling Taiwan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Scheduling Taiwan needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Scheduling Taiwan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Scheduling Taiwan in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Scheduling Taiwan 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.
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. Scheduling Taiwan 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.
Environmental challenges
– Scheduling Taiwan 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. Scheduling Taiwan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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 Scheduling Taiwan.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Scheduling Taiwan can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
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.
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 Scheduling Taiwan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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 The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. 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 Scheduling Taiwan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
