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Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C)


This case presents the start-up of operations in Beijing and discusses the difficulties Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is having with its local partners. By March 1988, KFC has established its largest restaurant in the world in Beijing with sales that are booming and showing no sign of slowing down. Nevertheless, the extent of operational problems and the shortage of hard currency profits is raising concerns over whether further expansion is warranted.

Authors :: Paul W. Beamish, Allen Morrison

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: International business, Joint ventures, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C)" written by Paul W. Beamish, Allen Morrison includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kfc Fried facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures and Global Business.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kfc Fried, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kfc Fried 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kfc Fried
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 Kfc Fried




Strengths Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Kfc Fried in Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Kfc Fried 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 Kfc Fried are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Digital Transformation in Global Business segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kfc Fried digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kfc Fried 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Kfc Fried 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Kfc Fried has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kfc Fried 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Kfc Fried is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Diverse revenue streams

– Kfc Fried is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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.

Analytics focus

– Kfc Fried 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 Paul W. Beamish, Allen Morrison 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.

Ability to lead change in Global Business field

– Kfc Fried 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 Kfc Fried 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Kfc Fried is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Organizational Resilience of Kfc Fried

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kfc Fried does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.






Weaknesses Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kfc Fried 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kfc Fried 's lucrative customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C), in the dynamic environment Kfc Fried has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kfc Fried has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Lack of clear differentiation of Kfc Fried products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kfc Fried needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kfc Fried 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. Kfc Fried 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Kfc Fried 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Kfc Fried has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kfc Fried is planning to shift buying processes online.

Need for greater diversity

– Kfc Fried 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Kfc Fried is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Kfc Fried needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kfc Fried to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Paul W. Beamish, Allen Morrison suggests that, Kfc Fried 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.




Opportunities Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) | 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Kfc Fried has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kfc Fried to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) case study. Kfc Fried can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Kfc Fried 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 Kfc Fried 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.

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. Kfc Fried 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. Kfc Fried 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Kfc Fried 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kfc Fried to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kfc Fried 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, Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Loyalty marketing

– Kfc Fried 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kfc Fried 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, Kfc Fried can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kfc Fried operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kfc Fried 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

– Kfc Fried 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kfc Fried can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kfc Fried can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.




Threats Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) are -

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. Kfc Fried needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Regulatory challenges

– Kfc Fried 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.

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 Kfc Fried business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C), Kfc Fried 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 .

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Kfc Fried 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.

Environmental challenges

– Kfc Fried 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. Kfc Fried can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Kfc Fried 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kfc Fried 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) .

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.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Kfc Fried in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Kfc Fried 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Kfc Fried has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kfc Fried 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kentucky Fried Chicken in China (C) 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 Kfc Fried needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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