Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China
Kitchen Best is a Hong Kong-based electrical-appliance company. The company has a manufacturing facility in China and sells its wares to customers around the world. Henry Chan, the newly appointed CEO, has ambitious plans for the business. However, a series of instances of misconduct and unethical behavior makes him realize that the business is suffering from a lack of internal control. What type of internal control mechanisms should he put in place to ensure the future success of the company?
Swot Analysis of "Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China" written by Say Goo, Grace Loo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kitchen Wares facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Leadership and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kitchen Wares, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kitchen Wares
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 Kitchen Wares
Strengths Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kitchen Wares in Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kitchen Wares in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kitchen Wares 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kitchen Wares 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kitchen Wares has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kitchen Wares 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kitchen Wares digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kitchen Wares has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kitchen Wares to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kitchen Wares to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Wares is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Wares in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kitchen Wares in the sector have low bargaining power. Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kitchen Wares to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kitchen Wares is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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
– Kitchen Wares 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 Say Goo, Grace Loo 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.
Weaknesses Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China, in the dynamic environment Kitchen Wares has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kitchen Wares has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kitchen Wares 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. Kitchen Wares 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
Kitchen Wares 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 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 Kitchen Wares supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kitchen Wares vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kitchen Wares 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kitchen Wares is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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 Kitchen Wares 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China, it seems that the employees of Kitchen Wares 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kitchen Wares 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kitchen Wares 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Say Goo, Grace Loo suggests that, Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China | 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Wares 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
– Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kitchen Wares to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Kitchen Wares in the consumer business. Now Kitchen Wares can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kitchen Wares can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kitchen Wares operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kitchen Wares 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Kitchen Wares 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Wares to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kitchen Wares 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Kitchen Wares can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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.
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. Kitchen Wares can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Kitchen Wares 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kitchen Wares to increase its market reach. Kitchen Wares will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Threats Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China, Kitchen Wares 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kitchen Wares 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Kitchen Wares 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.
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.
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 Kitchen Wares business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Kitchen Wares with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Kitchen Wares
– 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 Kitchen Wares.
Environmental challenges
– Kitchen Wares 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. Kitchen Wares can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kitchen Wares has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Wares in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kitchen Wares 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kitchen Wares 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kitchen Wares 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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 Kitchen Best: Ethics When Doing Cross-Boundary Business in Southern China 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 Kitchen Wares needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
