Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy
This three-part case covers the history of Samsung from its origins as a small trucking company to one of Korea's largest conglomerates. Part A, "Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy", charts the growth of Korea's the export-led economy after the end of Japanese occupation in 1945, driven by a handful of family-owned 'chaebols'. Founder Lee Byung-chull's trucking business, set up in 1938, diversified in the aftermath of the Korean War, as he forged a strong political network that enabled him to embed his family's influence and assets in the business strategy. Part B, "Heart Attack Puts Succession Planning at Risk", describes how the ill health of the second-generation leader Lee Kun-hee deprived the firm of a clear succession plan. As the de facto leader of Samsung, his son had to build up his power base to assume the role in the context of a complex ownership structure. Part C, "Court calls time out on Lee Jae-yong", examines how the de facto heir was convicted of bribery and given a five-year prison sentence, prompting speculation that he would run the Samsung empire from his cell.
Authors :: Morten Bennedsen, Brian Henry, Yupana Wiwattanakantang
Swot Analysis of "Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy" written by Morten Bennedsen, Brian Henry, Yupana Wiwattanakantang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Samsung Lee facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Samsung Lee, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Samsung Lee 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Samsung Lee
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Samsung Lee
Strengths Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Samsung Lee in Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Samsung Lee to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Samsung Lee to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Samsung Lee 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 Samsung Lee is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Samsung Lee is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Samsung Lee has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Samsung Lee 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Samsung Lee 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy - 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 recruit top talent
– Samsung Lee is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Samsung Lee 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Samsung Lee is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Samsung Lee digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Samsung Lee 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.
Organizational Resilience of Samsung Lee
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Samsung Lee does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Samsung Lee 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 Morten Bennedsen, Brian Henry, Yupana Wiwattanakantang 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.
Weaknesses Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Morten Bennedsen, Brian Henry, Yupana Wiwattanakantang suggests that, Samsung Lee 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Samsung Lee 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Samsung Lee products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Samsung Lee needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Samsung Lee supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Samsung Lee vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Samsung Lee 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 - Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Samsung Lee has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Samsung Lee is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung Lee, firm in the HBR case study Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung Lee has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Samsung Lee 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Samsung Lee is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Samsung Lee needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Samsung Lee to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy | 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Samsung Lee 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 Samsung Lee to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Samsung Lee to increase its market reach. Samsung Lee 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Samsung Lee can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Samsung Lee can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Samsung Lee operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Samsung Lee in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Samsung Lee 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Samsung Lee can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Samsung Lee can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Samsung Lee 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Samsung Lee 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. Samsung Lee 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Samsung Lee is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Samsung Lee 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Samsung Lee 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Samsung Lee can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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, Samsung Lee 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy .
Regulatory challenges
– Samsung Lee 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Samsung Lee 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Samsung Lee 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 Samsung Lee in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Samsung Lee is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Samsung Lee.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy, Samsung Lee may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Increasing wage structure of Samsung Lee
– 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 Samsung Lee.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Samsung Lee 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy 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 Samsung Lee needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Samsung: Family Assets and Roadblocks (A) - Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy