In an economy marked by severe inflation, a balance of payments problem, and large investment needs for modernization, the Minister of Finance has been asked to design a remedial program that cannot include borrowing abroad. He does so, and the case describes the outcome of the policies in the early 1880's. Discussion is expected to focus mainly on the long-term institutional spin-offs from these policies, and on the appropriateness of these institutions to the needs of a developing country.
Swot Analysis of "Japan (A), Supplement" written by Bruce R. Scott includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 1880 Remedial facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Japan (A), Supplement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Emerging markets, Financial management, Globalization, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Japan (A), Supplement casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Japan (A), Supplement
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Japan (A), Supplement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 1880 Remedial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 1880 Remedial 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 Japan (A), Supplement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Japan (A), Supplement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 1880 Remedial
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 1880 Remedial
Strengths Japan (A), Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 1880 Remedial in Japan (A), Supplement Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- 1880 Remedial 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 1880 Remedial is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Japan (A), Supplement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– 1880 Remedial 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 1880 Remedial in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– 1880 Remedial has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. 1880 Remedial 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.
Analytics focus
– 1880 Remedial 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 Bruce R. Scott 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 1880 Remedial in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the 1880 Remedial 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– 1880 Remedial is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Japan (A), Supplement 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– 1880 Remedial 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 Japan (A), Supplement HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Japan (A), Supplement 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.
Innovation driven organization
– 1880 Remedial is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Japan (A), Supplement Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– 1880 Remedial has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 1880 Remedial to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– 1880 Remedial is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Japan (A), Supplement are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Japan (A), Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Japan (A), Supplement are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Japan (A), Supplement 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 1880 Remedial 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of 1880 Remedial products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, 1880 Remedial needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
1880 Remedial 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Japan (A), Supplement, is just above the industry average. 1880 Remedial 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, 1880 Remedial 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though 1880 Remedial 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 - Japan (A), Supplement should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– 1880 Remedial 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, 1880 Remedial is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Japan (A), Supplement 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 Japan (A), Supplement, in the dynamic environment 1880 Remedial has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. 1880 Remedial has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Japan (A), Supplement HBR case study mentions - 1880 Remedial 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Japan (A), Supplement 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 Japan (A), Supplement can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as 1880 Remedial is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Japan (A), Supplement | 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 Japan (A), Supplement are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for 1880 Remedial 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.
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. 1880 Remedial can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– 1880 Remedial 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for 1880 Remedial 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 1880 Remedial to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at 1880 Remedial 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– 1880 Remedial 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for 1880 Remedial 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. 1880 Remedial 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. 1880 Remedial 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, 1880 Remedial 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, Japan (A), Supplement, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects 1880 Remedial can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 1880 Remedial 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 Japan (A), Supplement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 1880 Remedial to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– 1880 Remedial 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.
Buying journey improvements
– 1880 Remedial can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Japan (A), Supplement 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.
Threats Japan (A), Supplement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Japan (A), Supplement are -
Environmental challenges
– 1880 Remedial 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. 1880 Remedial can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, 1880 Remedial 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 Japan (A), Supplement .
Consumer confidence and its impact on 1880 Remedial 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that 1880 Remedial is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. 1880 Remedial needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– 1880 Remedial 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
– 1880 Remedial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 1880 Remedial 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Japan (A), Supplement, 1880 Remedial 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents 1880 Remedial with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 1880 Remedial in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
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 1880 Remedial.
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. 1880 Remedial can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 1880 Remedial business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Japan (A), Supplement 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 Japan (A), Supplement 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 Japan (A), Supplement 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 Japan (A), Supplement 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 Japan (A), Supplement 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 1880 Remedial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.