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Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation


Japan's corporate culture has traditionally prioritized the interests of stakeholders such as employees and suppliers over those of shareholders. After a decades-long economic slump, Japan's government has begun efforts to improve corporate governance and firms' incentives to engage with shareholders. Misaki Capital was founded in 2013 with a strategy of constructively engaging with portfolio firms, providing operational and financial advice to management in order to improve shareholder value. This case asks students to consider the attractiveness of Japanese equities given recent reforms and to evaluate the investment approach of Misaki Capital.

Authors :: Ian D Gow, Charles C.Y. Wang, Naoko Jinjo, Nobuo Sato

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Corporate communications, Corporate governance, Financial analysis, Financial management, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation" written by Ian D Gow, Charles C.Y. Wang, Naoko Jinjo, Nobuo Sato includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Misaki Japan's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate communications, Corporate governance, Financial analysis, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Misaki Japan's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Misaki Japan's 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Misaki Japan's
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 Misaki Japan's




Strengths Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Misaki Japan's in Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation Harvard Business Review case study are -

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry

– Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Misaki Japan's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Misaki Japan's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field

– Misaki Japan's 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 Misaki Japan's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Misaki Japan's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Misaki Japan's 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Misaki Japan's 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 brand equity

– Misaki Japan's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Misaki Japan's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Misaki Japan's 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of Misaki Japan's

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Misaki Japan's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Diverse revenue streams

– Misaki Japan's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Misaki Japan's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Analytics focus

– Misaki Japan's 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 Ian D Gow, Charles C.Y. Wang, Naoko Jinjo, Nobuo Sato 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.

Training and development

– Misaki Japan's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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.






Weaknesses Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation are -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ian D Gow, Charles C.Y. Wang, Naoko Jinjo, Nobuo Sato suggests that, Misaki Japan's 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation, is just above the industry average. Misaki Japan's 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation HBR case study mentions - Misaki Japan's takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

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 Misaki Japan's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Misaki Japan's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Japan's 's lucrative customers.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Misaki Japan's 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 - Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Misaki Japan's 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Japan's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Misaki Japan's 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Misaki Japan's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Misaki Japan's 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.




Opportunities Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation | 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Misaki Japan's 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, Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Misaki Japan's in the consumer business. Now Misaki Japan's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Misaki Japan's 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Misaki Japan's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Developing new processes and practices

– Misaki Japan's 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Misaki Japan's 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Misaki Japan's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Misaki Japan's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation case study. Misaki Japan's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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. Misaki Japan's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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. Misaki Japan's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Misaki Japan's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Misaki Japan's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Misaki Japan's 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Misaki Japan's 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Misaki Japan's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Misaki Japan's 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.




Threats Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation are -

Environmental challenges

– Misaki Japan's 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. Misaki Japan's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.

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. Misaki Japan's 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Misaki Japan's 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.

Increasing wage structure of Misaki Japan's

– 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 Misaki Japan's.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Misaki Japan's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Misaki Japan's 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.

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 Misaki Japan's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Misaki Japan's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Misaki Japan's 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.

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. Misaki Japan's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Misaki Japan's is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation, Misaki Japan's 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 .

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Misaki Japan's 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation 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 Misaki Japan's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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