Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility
Samsung Tesco Homeplus (STH), one of Korea's large hypermarkets, increased its investment in social contribution activities and systematized the organization in charge in the aftermath. It especially focused on education and cultural services, saving the environment and sharing with others. As a consequence, by December 2008, STH was considered one of the most innovative companies and one that realized true customer value. It had won a variety of awards, such as the Green Management award, Social Contribution Company award and the Eco-friendly Management award. After creating a corporate social responsibility (CSR) team in 2005, it won the CSR award given by the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea and was selected as one of Korea's Most Admired Companies. While much progress had been made, company executives wondered what factors would be the keys to their continuing CSR activities. This case presents points of contention and issues in the practice of corporate social responsibility by STH. Social contribution activities and STH were aligned with both sustainable management and customer value-oriented management. Various activities in extended education, environment and charity ultimately led customers to view STH as not just a discount store that simply sold products, but a "value store." STH conducted systematic programs and activities in the areas of extended education environment and charity after having declared itself a "social contribution" company. This case illustrates how a company can develop its social contribution activities. In addition, discussion will center on the long-term impacts that social contribution activities have on enterprises.
Swot Analysis of "Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility" written by Youngchan Kim, Kwango Ahn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sth Contribution facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sth Contribution, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sth Contribution 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sth Contribution
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 Sth Contribution
Strengths Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sth Contribution in Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Sth Contribution has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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
– Sth Contribution is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Sth Contribution 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 Sth Contribution in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sth Contribution has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sth Contribution 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
– Sth Contribution 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 Youngchan Kim, Kwango Ahn 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sth Contribution
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sth Contribution does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sth Contribution 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Sth Contribution has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sth Contribution to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sth Contribution in the sector have low bargaining power. Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sth Contribution to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sth Contribution is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Sth Contribution is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sth Contribution 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sth Contribution is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sth Contribution 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sth Contribution products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sth Contribution needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sth Contribution 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 - Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility, it seems that the employees of Sth Contribution 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sth Contribution 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. Sth Contribution 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility, in the dynamic environment Sth Contribution has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sth Contribution has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility, is just above the industry average. Sth Contribution 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sth Contribution is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sth Contribution is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Sth Contribution needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sth Contribution to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility | 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility are -
Buying journey improvements
– Sth Contribution can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sth Contribution 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sth Contribution 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sth Contribution 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sth Contribution 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 Sth Contribution to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sth Contribution is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sth Contribution 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.
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. Sth Contribution 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. Sth Contribution 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sth Contribution can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Sth Contribution 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.
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. Sth Contribution 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 Sth Contribution 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sth Contribution 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.
Threats Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sth Contribution 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sth Contribution 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility .
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sth Contribution with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Sth Contribution.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sth Contribution is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Sth Contribution 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
– Sth Contribution 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. Sth Contribution 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility, Sth Contribution 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 .
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sth Contribution 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.
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. Sth Contribution 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.
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 Sth Contribution in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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 Samsung Tesco Homeplus and Corporate Social Responsibility 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 Sth Contribution needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
