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Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China


A technical note on the state of Chinese commercial real estate and the effects of China's slowing growth. This note was written in conjunction with the case study "SOHO China: Transformation in Progress."

Authors :: Charles F Wu

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Financial management, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China" written by Charles F Wu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Soho Note facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China


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




Strengths Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Soho Note in Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China Harvard Business Review case study are -

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Soho Note in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Analytics focus

– Soho Note 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 Charles F Wu 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.

Strong track record of project management

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

Innovation driven organization

– Soho Note is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field

– Soho Note 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 Soho Note in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Soho Note in the sector have low bargaining power. Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Soho Note to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Soho Note digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Soho Note 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry

– Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Soho Note to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Soho Note to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Soho Note is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Soho Note has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Soho Note 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Soho Note 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.






Weaknesses Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China are -

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China, 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Soho Note 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Soho Note 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Soho Note 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, Soho Note is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China, in the dynamic environment Soho Note has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Soho Note has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China, it seems that the employees of Soho Note don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

Lack of clear differentiation of Soho Note products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Soho Note 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China, is just above the industry average. Soho Note 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Soho Note 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China HBR case study mentions - Soho Note 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.




Opportunities Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China | 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China are -

Leveraging digital technologies

– Soho Note 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, Soho Note 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.

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 Soho Note in the consumer business. Now Soho Note can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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. Soho Note can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Soho Note to increase its market reach. Soho Note 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Soho Note 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

– Soho Note 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Soho Note to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Soho Note 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Soho Note 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, Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Manufacturing automation

– Soho Note 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 Soho Note 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Soho Note has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Soho Note to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China case study. Soho Note 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 Soho Note 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 Soho Note to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.




Threats Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Soho Note 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Soho Note 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China .

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 Soho Note.

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 Soho Note in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Soho Note 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.

Environmental challenges

– Soho Note 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. Soho Note can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Soho Note 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Soho Note has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Soho Note 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Soho Note 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China, Soho Note 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 .

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. Soho Note can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Soho Note needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Soho Note business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China 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 Real Estate in China: A Technical Note for SOHO China 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 Soho Note needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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