Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003
From March to May 2003, Hong Kong's tourism industry underwent a serious downturn during the outbreak of SARS in the territory, which caused 1,755 cases in Hong Kong before July. There was practically no inbound tourism between April 2 and May 23, during which the World Health Organization advised the public to consider postponing all but essential travel to Hong Kong. Then, in a dramatic twist, the industry received a significant boost in late July, when residents of four nearby mainland Chinese cities were allowed to apply to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis as part of the mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement. Formerly, mainland Chinese tourists could visit Hong Kong only with tour groups. By September, tourists from the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen could also visit Hong Kong on an individual basis. Mainland tourists literally began to flood in as a result, bringing up total visitor arrival figures to a level that even surpassed pre-SARS statistics. Greater easing of travel restrictions was expected in the first half of 2004. How could Hong Kong's SMEs, much battered by the economic woes in recent years that were capped by the SARS attack, capitalize on the new opportunities offered by the liberalization of mainland travel?
Swot Analysis of "Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003" written by Michael J. Enright, Vincent Mak includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hong Mainland facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hong Mainland, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hong Mainland 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hong Mainland
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 Hong Mainland
Strengths Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hong Mainland in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Hong Mainland is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hong Mainland in the sector have low bargaining power. Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hong Mainland 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 Hong Mainland digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hong Mainland 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hong Mainland to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hong Mainland to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Hong Mainland is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hong Mainland 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.
Organizational Resilience of Hong Mainland
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hong Mainland does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Hong Mainland 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 Hong Mainland is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Hong Mainland is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hong Mainland 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Hong Mainland 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 Hong Mainland in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Mainland, firm in the HBR case study Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hong Mainland has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Hong Mainland 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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 Hong Mainland 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hong Mainland is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Hong Mainland needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hong Mainland to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hong Mainland 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 Hong Mainland supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hong Mainland vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 HBR case study mentions - Hong Mainland 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hong Mainland 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hong Mainland products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hong Mainland needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 | 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 are -
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Hong Mainland can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Hong Mainland 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hong Mainland has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hong Mainland to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 case study. Hong Mainland can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hong Mainland 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hong Mainland to increase its market reach. Hong Mainland 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hong Mainland can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Hong Mainland 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. Hong Mainland 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.
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 Hong Mainland 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hong Mainland 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hong Mainland can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hong Mainland operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Hong Mainland can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hong Mainland 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 Hong Mainland to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Hong Mainland 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.
Threats Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hong Mainland has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hong Mainland 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.
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. Hong Mainland needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Hong Mainland in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hong Mainland 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
– Hong Mainland 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. Hong Mainland can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003, Hong Mainland 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hong Mainland is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hong Mainland 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hong Mainland with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hong Mainland 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.
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. Hong Mainland 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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 Mainland China's Travel Liberalisation and Hong Kong's SMEs in Late 2003 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 Hong Mainland needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
