Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy
Wan Chai, one of the oldest districts in Hong Kong, was appointed as one of the urban redevelopment areas in Hong Kong in 1998. The government had laid out various redevelopment plans in select sections within the district. Ever since the announcement, many community leaders, residents, and town planners have expressed the fear that Wan Chai would become an "air-conditioned glass box" if the historical buildings were torn down to make ways for high-rises. The government, on the other hand, made justifications to proceed with renewal and claimed that they have adopted a "people-oriented" approach to solve the social and cultural issues. Illustrates a classic case of disputes between policy and people in urban renewal projects and the dilemma of urban renewal and preservation of culture and community networks.
Swot Analysis of "Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy" written by P.S. Tso, Emily Ho includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chai Wan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chai Wan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chai Wan 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chai Wan
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 Chai Wan
Strengths Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chai Wan in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Chai Wan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Chai Wan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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 Chai Wan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Chai Wan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Chai Wan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Chai Wan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Chai Wan 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Chai Wan in the sector have low bargaining power. Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Chai Wan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Chai Wan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chai Wan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Chai Wan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Chai Wan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Chai Wan 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Chai Wan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Chai Wan 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Chai Wan 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 Chai Wan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy, is just above the industry average. Chai Wan 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Chai Wan 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy, it seems that the employees of Chai Wan don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Chai Wan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Chai Wan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Chai Wan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Chai Wan 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Chai Wan is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Chai Wan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Chai Wan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Chai Wan 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 Chai Wan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Chai Wan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Chai Wan has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Chai Wan 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. Chai Wan 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.
Opportunities Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy | 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Chai Wan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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.
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. Chai Wan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Chai Wan 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. Chai Wan 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.
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. Chai Wan 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, Chai Wan 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Chai Wan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Chai Wan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Chai Wan 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 Chai Wan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Chai Wan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy case study. Chai Wan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Chai Wan 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chai Wan 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.
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 Chai Wan 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Chai Wan 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.
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 Chai Wan in the consumer business. Now Chai Wan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy are -
Increasing wage structure of Chai Wan
– 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 Chai Wan.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy, Chai Wan 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 .
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 Chai Wan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Chai Wan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Chai Wan 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.
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 Chai Wan in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Chai Wan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Chai Wan 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Chai Wan is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Chai Wan.
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. Chai Wan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Chai Wan 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. Chai Wan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Chai Wan 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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 Urban Renewal of Wan Chai: A Collision of People & Policy 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 Chai Wan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.