Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe
This case focuses on the economic landscape of the Chinese city of Chongqing from 2007, the year when its municipal economy began a decade-long ascent even as China's economic growth had slowed down, especially since the 2008 global financial crisis. The case examines the policies that Chongqing's government took to promote economic growth, as well as the socio-political and economic context surrounding them. It also highlights the challenges and opportunities that Chongqing faced at the end of 2017, and will have to deal with in its near future against the background of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This case is suitable for a China-specific course as a "context case" on local and regional development. It may also be suitable for teaching the BRI initiative. This case could illustrate how Chinese provinces are adjusting their policies to the BRI, as well as the implications for businesses from the adjustment.
Swot Analysis of "Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe" written by Xu Mou, Wee Kiat Lim, Boon Siong Neo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bri Chongqing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bri Chongqing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bri Chongqing 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bri Chongqing
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 Bri Chongqing
Strengths Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bri Chongqing in Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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.
High brand equity
– Bri Chongqing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bri Chongqing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bri Chongqing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bri Chongqing 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bri Chongqing 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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Bri Chongqing 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 Bri Chongqing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bri Chongqing 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bri Chongqing in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Bri Chongqing 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 Bri Chongqing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Bri Chongqing 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 Xu Mou, Wee Kiat Lim, Boon Siong Neo can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bri Chongqing 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
– Bri Chongqing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 recruit top talent
– Bri Chongqing is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Xu Mou, Wee Kiat Lim, Boon Siong Neo suggests that, Bri Chongqing 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bri Chongqing 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe, in the dynamic environment Bri Chongqing has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bri Chongqing 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 Bri Chongqing supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bri Chongqing vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe, is just above the industry average. Bri Chongqing 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bri Chongqing 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, Bri Chongqing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bri Chongqing, firm in the HBR case study Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Bri Chongqing 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bri Chongqing products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bri Chongqing needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe, it seems that the employees of Bri Chongqing 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.
Opportunities Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe | 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe are -
Loyalty marketing
– Bri Chongqing 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bri Chongqing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bri Chongqing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bri Chongqing 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 Bri Chongqing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Bri Chongqing 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bri Chongqing 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bri Chongqing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Bri Chongqing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Bri Chongqing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bri Chongqing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bri Chongqing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe case study. Bri Chongqing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bri Chongqing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Bri Chongqing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bri Chongqing 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, Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bri Chongqing can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Threats Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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.
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. Bri Chongqing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Bri Chongqing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bri Chongqing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Bri Chongqing 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bri Chongqing 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe .
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 Bri Chongqing.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bri Chongqing is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bri Chongqing 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.
Environmental challenges
– Bri Chongqing 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. Bri Chongqing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Bri Chongqing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bri Chongqing 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Repositioning Chongqing as the Gateway to Central Asia and Europe 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 Bri Chongqing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
