Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV
Mr. Chung Yong, president of Samsung China Headquarters was considering a recent meeting with the marketing director who was responsible for developing a marketing strategy for the entire China market. The topic at the meeting was the marketing strategy for color TVs, which had been chosen as the flagship product for the China market. Samsung had to decide whether it should focus on the low or high-end market segment (or both), and whether to import or produce locally.
Authors :: Paul W. Beamish, David J. Sharp, Chang-Bum Choi
Swot Analysis of "Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV" written by Paul W. Beamish, David J. Sharp, Chang-Bum Choi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Samsung China facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Samsung China, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Samsung China 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Samsung China
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 Samsung China
Strengths Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Samsung China in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Samsung China is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Samsung China in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Samsung China in the sector have low bargaining power. Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Samsung China to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Samsung China digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Samsung China 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)
– Samsung China 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Samsung China is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Samsung China is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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.
High brand equity
– Samsung China has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Samsung China to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Samsung China has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Samsung China 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 Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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.
Analytics focus
– Samsung China 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, David J. Sharp, Chang-Bum Choi 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 Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Samsung China products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Samsung China needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Samsung China is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Samsung China 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. Samsung China 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 Samsung China has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Samsung China supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Samsung China vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV, it seems that the employees of Samsung China 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV HBR case study mentions - Samsung China takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Samsung China 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV, in the dynamic environment Samsung China has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Samsung China has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Samsung China is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Samsung China needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Samsung China to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV | 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Samsung China 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Samsung China 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.
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 Samsung China 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Samsung China has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Samsung China to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV case study. Samsung China can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Samsung China 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Samsung China can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Samsung China 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 Samsung China can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Samsung China 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.
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. Samsung China 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. Samsung China 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Samsung China can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Samsung China 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.
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 Samsung China in the consumer business. Now Samsung China can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Samsung China 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.
Threats Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV are -
Increasing wage structure of Samsung China
– 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 Samsung China.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Samsung China 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.
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 Samsung China business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Samsung China is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Samsung China with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV, Samsung China 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Samsung China 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.
Environmental challenges
– Samsung China 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. Samsung China can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Samsung China 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV .
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.
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. Samsung China 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Samsung China 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Samsung China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 China: The Introduction of Color TV 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 Samsung China needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
