How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee

In mid-2013, the Lee family, which owned the Hong Kong-based food and health product giant Lee Kum Kee (LKK), struggled with how best to increase involvement of the fifth generation (G5), the children of the company's current fourth-generation (G4) senior executives and governance leaders. Only two of the fourteen G5 members had joined the company, and few had expressed interest in further involvement, including in the multiple learning and development programs the business offered, such as a mentoring program. Many of the G5 cousins had expressed little interest in business careers in general, and none of them currently was serving as an LKK intern. G4 members observed that their children were busy with family obligations, hobbies, and emerging careers outside the business. G5's lack of interest in business and governance roles was part of a growing pattern of low family engagement in general, exhibited by the cancellation of recent family retreats (once an annual tradition) because of apathy and some underlying conflict. A history of splits among past generations of the Lee family regarding business leadership made the engagement issue even more meaningful and critical. Students will consider the challenge from the point of view of G4 family members David Lee, chairman of the family's Family Office, and his sister, Elizabeth Mok, who ran the Family Learning and Development Center. They and their three siblings saw engaging the next generation as a top priority, one related to key concepts including family-business continuity, generational engagement and empowerment, succession, emotional ownership, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

Authors :: John L. Ward, Carol Adler Zsolnay, Sachin Waikar

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: Motivating people, Organizational culture, Succession planning, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee" written by John L. Ward, Carol Adler Zsolnay, Sachin Waikar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that G5 Family facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Succession planning and Global Business.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the G5 Family, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which G5 Family 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of G5 Family
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 G5 Family

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Strengths How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of G5 Family in How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee Harvard Business Review case study are -

Diverse revenue streams

– G5 Family is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of G5 Family in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Training and development

– G5 Family has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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.

High brand equity

– G5 Family has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled G5 Family to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the G5 Family 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

Strong track record of project management

– G5 Family is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Successful track record of launching new products

– G5 Family has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. G5 Family 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.

Analytics focus

– G5 Family 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 John L. Ward, Carol Adler Zsolnay, Sachin Waikar can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Ability to recruit top talent

– G5 Family is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry

– How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled G5 Family to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped G5 Family to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Global Business field

– G5 Family 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 G5 Family in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

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Weaknesses How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee are -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, John L. Ward, Carol Adler Zsolnay, Sachin Waikar suggests that, G5 Family 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though G5 Family 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 - How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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 G5 Family 's lucrative customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, G5 Family 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

G5 Family 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee, 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of G5 Family is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. G5 Family needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help G5 Family to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, G5 Family 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of G5 Family, firm in the HBR case study How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee HBR case study mentions - G5 Family 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, G5 Family is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

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Opportunities How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee | 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 How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee are -

Developing new processes and practices

– G5 Family 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, G5 Family can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that G5 Family operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, G5 Family is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Leveraging digital technologies

– G5 Family 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at G5 Family 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects G5 Family can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, G5 Family 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for G5 Family 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.

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 G5 Family in the consumer business. Now G5 Family can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Loyalty marketing

– G5 Family 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.

Manufacturing automation

– G5 Family 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 G5 Family 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 G5 Family to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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. G5 Family 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. G5 Family 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.

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Threats How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for G5 Family 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that G5 Family is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 G5 Family.

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. G5 Family 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.

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 G5 Family business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 G5 Family in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on G5 Family 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee, G5 Family 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 .

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.

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. G5 Family needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Regulatory challenges

– G5 Family 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– G5 Family has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, G5 Family 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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 How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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 How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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 How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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 How to Motivate the Fifth Generation? Balancing Engagement and Entitlement at Lee Kum Kee 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 G5 Family needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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