Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong
In late December 2010, most emerging markets were struggling to contain the appreciation of their currencies, so perhaps currency crises were not likely in the foreseeable future. But conditions could change quickly. This case reviews different varieties of currency crises and two in particular: United Kingdom in 1992 and Hong Kong in 1998. These were two very different types of crises, and understanding them could serve the protagonist well when future crises occurred.
Swot Analysis of "Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong" written by Francis Warnock includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crises Currency facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crises Currency, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crises Currency 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crises Currency
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Crises Currency
Strengths Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Crises Currency in Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Crises Currency is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Crises Currency has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crises Currency 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Crises Currency 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 Crises Currency in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Crises Currency has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Crises Currency to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Crises Currency has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Crises Currency 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 Finance & Accounting industry
– Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Crises Currency to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Crises Currency to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Crises Currency is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Crises Currency 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Crises Currency in the sector have low bargaining power. Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Crises Currency to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Crises Currency is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Crises Currency 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 - Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Crises Currency 's lucrative customers.
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 Crises Currency supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Crises Currency vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crises Currency is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Crises Currency products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Crises Currency needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, is just above the industry average. Crises Currency 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Crises Currency, firm in the HBR case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Crises Currency is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Crises Currency 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 Crises Currency is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Crises Currency needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Crises Currency to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong | 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Crises Currency can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Crises Currency can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Crises Currency in the consumer business. Now Crises Currency can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Crises Currency in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Crises Currency can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Crises Currency 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 Crises Currency 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Crises Currency 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 Crises Currency to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Crises Currency 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. Crises Currency 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Crises Currency can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Crises Currency 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Crises Currency 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Crises Currency 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Crises Currency to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Crises Currency 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 Crises Currency.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Crises Currency can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Crises Currency in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Crises Currency with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Crises Currency has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Crises Currency needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Crises Currency in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
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, Crises Currency 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong .
Regulatory challenges
– Crises Currency 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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. Crises Currency needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, Crises Currency may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Currency Crises in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong 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 Crises Currency needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.