Case Study Description of Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis
The managing director, the financial director, and the technical director of a large construction and property firm in Hong Kong are in disagreement. The firm is being squeezed and needs to free cash to pay maturing loans that the banks are calling in in response to the Asian financial crisis. The two senior officers, both from mainland China, agree on deferring payments to their major suppliers, whereas the technical officer, an expatriate from the United Kingdom, insists that the supplier contracts must be honored. Differing ideas regarding relationships and control are rooted in their different cultural traditions. The managing director and his financial director have to decide what to do.
Swot Analysis of "Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis" written by Joe Distefano includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Director Honored facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Cross-cultural management, Decision making, Diversity, Emerging markets, Leadership, Leading teams, Negotiations and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis casestudy better are - – technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Director Honored, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Director Honored 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Director Honored
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Director Honored
Strengths Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Director Honored in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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.
Training and development
– Director Honored has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Director Honored is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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
– Director Honored is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Director Honored is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Director Honored in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Director Honored
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Director Honored does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Director Honored 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 Director Honored is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Director Honored 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Director Honored 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Director Honored 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 Joe Distefano 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Director Honored has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Director Honored 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.
Weaknesses Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Director Honored 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis, it seems that the employees of Director Honored 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Director Honored is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis, in the dynamic environment Director Honored has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Director Honored 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis, is just above the industry average. Director Honored 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Director Honored 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Director Honored has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Director Honored 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Director Honored 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. Director Honored 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 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 Director Honored supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Director Honored vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis | 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Director Honored 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 Director Honored to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Director Honored 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. Director Honored 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Director Honored 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Director Honored can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Director Honored operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Director Honored can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Director Honored 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Director Honored can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Director Honored 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Director Honored 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Director Honored to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Director Honored has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Director Honored to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis case study. Director Honored can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Director Honored can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Director Honored can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Director Honored 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, Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Director Honored 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Director Honored 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Director Honored can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Director Honored needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Director Honored in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Director Honored 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. Director Honored can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
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 Director Honored business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Director Honored.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Director Honored has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Director Honored needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
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. Director Honored 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Director Honored 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Gold Star Properties: Financial Crisis 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 Director Honored needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
