Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong
Kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and Towngas were the three major forms of heating fuels used in Hong Kong before 1980. Numerous accidents caused by the use of LPG that occurred in the years preceding 1981 prompted the government to commission a study on the safety aspects of gas, which resulted in strict regulations on LPG supply. Some argued that the safety regulation gave Towngas an unfair advantage over LPG and, hence, gave rise to Towngas' dominant position by the 1990s. But the government felt that there was sufficient competition and, therefore, no need for government intervention.
Authors :: Ka-Fu Wong, Richard Y.C. Wong, Andrew Lee
Swot Analysis of "Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong" written by Ka-Fu Wong, Richard Y.C. Wong, Andrew Lee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Towngas Lpg facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Health and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Towngas Lpg, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Towngas Lpg 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Towngas Lpg
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Towngas Lpg
Strengths Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Towngas Lpg in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Towngas Lpg 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 Ka-Fu Wong, Richard Y.C. Wong, Andrew Lee 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Towngas Lpg to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Towngas Lpg to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Towngas Lpg is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Towngas Lpg in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Towngas Lpg has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Towngas Lpg to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Towngas Lpg 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 Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Towngas Lpg digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Towngas Lpg 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Towngas Lpg in the sector have low bargaining power. Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Towngas Lpg to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Towngas Lpg has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Towngas Lpg is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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.
Organizational Resilience of Towngas Lpg
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Towngas Lpg does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Towngas Lpg is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong 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.
Weaknesses Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Towngas Lpg, firm in the HBR case study Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Towngas Lpg 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. Towngas Lpg 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Towngas Lpg products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Towngas Lpg needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Towngas Lpg 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 - Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong HBR case study mentions - Towngas Lpg 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 Towngas Lpg 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Towngas Lpg 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Towngas Lpg is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Towngas Lpg needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Towngas Lpg to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Towngas Lpg 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong 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 Towngas Lpg has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Towngas Lpg has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Towngas Lpg to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong case study. Towngas Lpg can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Towngas Lpg can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Towngas Lpg operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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. Towngas Lpg can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Towngas Lpg in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Towngas Lpg 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. Towngas Lpg 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Towngas Lpg can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Towngas Lpg can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Towngas Lpg 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 Towngas Lpg in the consumer business. Now Towngas Lpg can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Towngas Lpg to increase its market reach. Towngas Lpg will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Towngas Lpg 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 Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Towngas Lpg can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Towngas Lpg 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 Towngas Lpg to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Towngas Lpg has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Towngas Lpg needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
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.
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 Towngas Lpg in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Towngas Lpg
– 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 Towngas Lpg.
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 Towngas Lpg.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Towngas Lpg is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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. Towngas Lpg 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Towngas Lpg 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in Hong Kong, Towngas Lpg may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Towngas Lpg 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.
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. Towngas Lpg needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Towngas Lpg 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Safety Regulation and the Rise of Towngas in 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 Towngas Lpg needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
