HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution
The Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation ("HKCAA") was established in June 1990 as a statutory body to carry out academic accreditation for non-university institutions in Hong Kong and to provide advice to government on education standards and qualifications in general. With tertiary institutions gaining self-accrediting status and the proliferation of post-secondary education, there has been a broadening of the HKCAA's clientele beyond the established institutions. The expanded accreditation duties and the introduction of the Qualifications Framework in Hong Kong to include vocational training programs and the incorporation of applied learning studies in the new secondary school system in 2009 means that the HKCAA is continuously assuming new roles and responsibilities. The case traces the HKCAA's expanding roles, from being an accreditation authority spanning different levels and domains to becoming the gatekeeper for the Qualifications Framework in Hong Kong. These new developments have created a set of challenges for the HKCAA, including new staffing, new work culture, new management systems, new partners, new clients, new policy and a new operational environment. These changes cover both the internal and external environments for the HKCAA, which needs to prepare itself for what lies ahead. With so many changes taking place, is the HKCAA ready to face up to all the new challenges lying ahead? Has the HKCAA done enough to equip itself or gone too far, overloading its staff and preventing them from doing a good job?
Swot Analysis of "HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution" written by Derek Man, MacY Wong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hkcaa Accreditation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Developing employees, Government, Leadership, Leadership development, Strategic planning and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hkcaa Accreditation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hkcaa Accreditation 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hkcaa Accreditation
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 Hkcaa Accreditation
Strengths HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hkcaa Accreditation in HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hkcaa Accreditation to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hkcaa Accreditation to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hkcaa Accreditation is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Hkcaa Accreditation has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hkcaa Accreditation to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hkcaa Accreditation is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hkcaa Accreditation digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Analytics focus
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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 Derek Man, MacY Wong 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
– Hkcaa Accreditation is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Hkcaa Accreditation
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hkcaa Accreditation does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 Hkcaa Accreditation in the sector have low bargaining power. HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hkcaa Accreditation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution HBR case study mentions - Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 Hkcaa Accreditation 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution, in the dynamic environment Hkcaa Accreditation has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hkcaa Accreditation has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hkcaa Accreditation 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 - HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Hkcaa Accreditation has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Hkcaa Accreditation has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Hkcaa Accreditation even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hkcaa Accreditation is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Hkcaa Accreditation needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hkcaa Accreditation to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution, 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.
Opportunities HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution | 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hkcaa Accreditation can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hkcaa Accreditation is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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.
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 Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hkcaa Accreditation to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hkcaa Accreditation to increase its market reach. Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
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. Hkcaa Accreditation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Hkcaa Accreditation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Hkcaa Accreditation in the consumer business. Now Hkcaa Accreditation can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hkcaa Accreditation can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution are -
Regulatory challenges
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
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. Hkcaa Accreditation can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Hkcaa Accreditation 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
– Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
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 Hkcaa Accreditation business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hkcaa Accreditation 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hkcaa Accreditation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hkcaa Accreditation 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. Hkcaa Accreditation needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Hkcaa Accreditation in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hkcaa Accreditation demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hkcaa Accreditation 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hkcaa Accreditation is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 HKCAA: Organizational Change and Re-positioning of a Quasi-Government Institution 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 Hkcaa Accreditation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
