Case Study Description of Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits
In October 2012, the chief executive officer of Focus Brand Management (Focus), a consulting and advertising company based in mainland China, was preparing to meet with Jiangzhong Pharmaceuticals (Jiangzhong). Focus had been working with Jiangzhong on an annual analysis of brand tracking. Based on that analysis, executives at Jiangzhong believed that it was time to expand their business to the functional food industry. Their first product would be a line of biscuits featuring a core ingredient known as hou tou gu, an ingredient that was considered beneficial to stomach care according to traditional Chinese medicine. For her meeting, Focus's chief executive officer needed to resolve some key questions about the most appropriate branding, packaging design, advertising and promotion strategy, and the choice of a suitable brand ambassador for this product.
Authors :: Jing Chen, Hubert Pun, Yingxue Sun, Xiangrong Lin
Swot Analysis of "Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits" written by Jing Chen, Hubert Pun, Yingxue Sun, Xiangrong Lin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jiangzhong Gu facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Cross-cultural management, Growth strategy, Product development and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jiangzhong Gu, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jiangzhong Gu 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jiangzhong Gu
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jiangzhong Gu
Strengths Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jiangzhong Gu in Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Jiangzhong Gu
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jiangzhong Gu does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jiangzhong Gu 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Jiangzhong Gu 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 Jiangzhong Gu in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jiangzhong Gu is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jiangzhong Gu to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jiangzhong Gu to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Jiangzhong Gu 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 Jiangzhong Gu is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jiangzhong Gu 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jiangzhong Gu digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jiangzhong Gu has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Strong track record of project management
– Jiangzhong Gu is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Jiangzhong Gu has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jiangzhong Gu to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jiangzhong Gu has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits HBR case study mentions - Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Jiangzhong Gu has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jiangzhong Gu is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jiangzhong Gu 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Jiangzhong Gu has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits, is just above the industry average. Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jiangzhong Gu is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits, in the dynamic environment Jiangzhong Gu has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jiangzhong Gu has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits | 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jiangzhong Gu 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, Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits, 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 Jiangzhong Gu in the consumer business. Now Jiangzhong Gu can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jiangzhong Gu is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jiangzhong Gu 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 Global Business segment.
Manufacturing automation
– Jiangzhong Gu can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Jiangzhong Gu can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jiangzhong Gu can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jiangzhong Gu to increase its market reach. Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jiangzhong Gu in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jiangzhong Gu can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jiangzhong Gu operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Threats Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jiangzhong Gu in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Increasing wage structure of Jiangzhong Gu
– 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 Jiangzhong Gu.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits, Jiangzhong Gu may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
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 Jiangzhong Gu in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jiangzhong Gu 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.
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. Jiangzhong Gu needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Jiangzhong Gu business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jiangzhong Gu can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jiangzhong Gu is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jiangzhong Gu 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jiangzhong Gu with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Focus Brand Management: Jiangzhong Hou Gu (Mushroom) Biscuits 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 Jiangzhong Gu needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
