Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version
At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators-bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao-are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have discovered many ways to increase their performance. Meanwhile a globally-networked team of manufacturing experts led by Marty Cole, the case protagonist, is trying to spread best practice from other sites around the globe. Unfortunately these two processes sometimes inadvertently clash, presenting a management challenge. The case helps students examine the implicit assumptions managers make in organizing work inside a factory. These assumptions reflect theories of worker behavior and motivation in combination with managers' beliefs of what constitutes "best practice." Students are offered an opportunity to dissect these lean manufacturing theories and recognize that in this particular implementation, implementation of best practice without sufficient consideration of the interplay of theories on motivation has led to unexpected outcomes. The case offers an opportunity to explore the link between work design and compensation, and understand the differences between compensation and motivation. The case frames the role of the general manager in setting up work structures and compensation systems in a very traditional and explicit setting, one where linkages should be clearly visible yet assumptions are often deeply buried and implicit. Our expectation is that students will see the lessons generalize to most, if not all, of the organizations where they have worked. There are three cases: the (A) case describes the management view, the (B) case describes the direct labor worker view, and the (C) case details the results of an employee survey that was conducted on two manufacturing lines.
Authors :: Willy Shih, Ethan S. Bernstein, Nina Bilimoria
Swot Analysis of "Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version" written by Willy Shih, Ethan S. Bernstein, Nina Bilimoria includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jieliang Theories facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business processes, Compensation, Decision making, Innovation, Leading teams, Manufacturing, Market research, Motivating people, Productivity, Workspaces and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jieliang Theories, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jieliang Theories
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 Jieliang Theories
Strengths Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jieliang Theories in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Jieliang Theories is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version - 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 recruit top talent
– Jieliang Theories is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Theories is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jieliang Theories has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jieliang Theories has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jieliang Theories digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jieliang Theories 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.
Training and development
– Jieliang Theories has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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.
Organizational Resilience of Jieliang Theories
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jieliang Theories does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jieliang Theories 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Jieliang Theories is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jieliang Theories in the sector have low bargaining power. Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jieliang Theories to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jieliang Theories in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jieliang Theories 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Jieliang Theories needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Theories 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version, in the dynamic environment Jieliang Theories has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jieliang Theories has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Jieliang Theories, firm in the HBR case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version, it seems that the employees of Jieliang Theories 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jieliang Theories 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jieliang Theories is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jieliang Theories is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Willy Shih, Ethan S. Bernstein, Nina Bilimoria suggests that, Jieliang Theories is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Opportunities Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version | 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Jieliang Theories 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.
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. Jieliang Theories can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Jieliang Theories 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. Jieliang Theories 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Theories to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Jieliang Theories can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jieliang Theories can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jieliang Theories operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jieliang Theories 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Jieliang Theories 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jieliang Theories has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jieliang Theories to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version case study. Jieliang Theories can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Theories can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Jieliang Theories 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jieliang Theories to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jieliang Theories 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
– Jieliang Theories 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. Jieliang Theories 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, Jieliang Theories 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version .
Increasing wage structure of Jieliang Theories
– 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 Jieliang Theories.
Regulatory challenges
– Jieliang Theories 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jieliang Theories can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Jieliang Theories in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Jieliang Theories business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Jieliang Theories needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version, Jieliang Theories 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 .
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. Jieliang Theories 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jieliang Theories 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.
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 Jieliang Theories.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Phone Home! (B), Chinese Version 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 Jieliang Theories needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
