HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B)
This case provides a brief overview of the success and challenges of the HNA Group between 2015 and late 2017 when it grew rapidly through global acquisitions to became a Fortune 170 company. How would HNA face the challenges of being a truly global and prominent company in an era of increasing scrutiny of big businesses?
Swot Analysis of "HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B)" written by William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hna 170 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Globalization and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hna 170, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hna 170 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hna 170
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 Hna 170
Strengths HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hna 170 in HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Hna 170 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 William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang 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 Hna 170 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hna 170 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hna 170 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hna 170 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hna 170 in the sector have low bargaining power. HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hna 170 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Hna 170 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Hna 170
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hna 170 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Hna 170 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 Hna 170 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hna 170 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Hna 170 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hna 170 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Hna 170 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hna 170 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang suggests that, Hna 170 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hna 170 is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 Hna 170 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
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 Hna 170 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hna 170 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hna 170 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hna 170, firm in the HBR case study HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 Hna 170 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Hna 170 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B), in the dynamic environment Hna 170 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hna 170 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hna 170 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hna 170 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) | 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hna 170 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hna 170 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hna 170 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hna 170 to increase its market reach. Hna 170 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hna 170 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hna 170 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) case study. Hna 170 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hna 170 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 Hna 170 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Hna 170 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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.
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 Hna 170 in the consumer business. Now Hna 170 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Hna 170 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Hna 170 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Hna 170 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hna 170 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, HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Hna 170 can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Hna 170 can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Threats HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B), Hna 170 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 .
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 Hna 170 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hna 170 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hna 170 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hna 170 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.
Environmental challenges
– Hna 170 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. Hna 170 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
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. Hna 170 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hna 170 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.
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 Hna 170.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hna 170 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hna 170 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.
Increasing wage structure of Hna 170
– 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 Hna 170.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hna 170 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (B) 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 Hna 170 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
