China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.Why is a Chinese state-owned construction company building the largest mega-resort and casino in the Caribbean? This case examines the intricate deal-making by which CSCEC, China's leading global engineering and construction contractor, emerged as a key market player. Having beat out Harrah's and other contenders for a stake in the Baha Mar Project, CSCEC now also has an equity stake in the Bahamas' gaming and resort industry. The case explores the growing role of project financing by way of China's Export-Import Bank and its implications for business deal-making and the competitiveness of China's increasingly globalizing businesses.
Authors :: Regina Abrami, Malcolm Riddell, Weiqi Zhang
Swot Analysis of "China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal" written by Regina Abrami, Malcolm Riddell, Weiqi Zhang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Baha Resort facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy execution and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Baha Resort, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Baha Resort 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Baha Resort
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 Baha Resort
Strengths China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Baha Resort in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Baha Resort in the sector have low bargaining power. China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Baha Resort to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Baha Resort has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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
– Baha Resort is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Baha Resort is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Baha Resort is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Baha Resort is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Baha Resort 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 Baha Resort in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Baha Resort digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Baha Resort 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Baha Resort 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Baha Resort has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Baha Resort 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Baha Resort has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Baha Resort in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Baha Resort 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal HBR case study mentions - Baha Resort 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Regina Abrami, Malcolm Riddell, Weiqi Zhang suggests that, Baha Resort 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Baha Resort, firm in the HBR case study China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Baha Resort 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.
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 Baha Resort supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Baha Resort vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Baha Resort is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal, is just above the industry average. Baha Resort 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 Baha Resort 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Baha Resort products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Baha Resort needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Baha Resort is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Baha Resort needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Baha Resort to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal | 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Baha Resort 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Baha Resort 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, China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal, 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
– Baha Resort can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
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 Baha Resort in the consumer business. Now Baha Resort can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Baha Resort can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Baha Resort has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Baha Resort to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal case study. Baha Resort can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Baha Resort is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Baha Resort 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Baha Resort to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Baha Resort can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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
– Baha Resort 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.
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. Baha Resort 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. Baha Resort 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Baha Resort 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 Baha Resort to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Baha Resort 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 Global Business segment.
Threats China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Baha Resort 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Baha Resort 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Baha Resort has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Baha Resort 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.
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 Baha Resort.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Baha Resort 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.
Environmental challenges
– Baha Resort 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. Baha Resort can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal, Baha Resort 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Baha Resort
– 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 Baha Resort.
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. Baha Resort needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Baha Resort is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Baha Resort 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Baha Resort can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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 China Construction America (B): The Baha Mar Resort Deal 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 Baha Resort needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.