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China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd.


Examines the experience of Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. (PSL), a joint venture between the U.S.-based Polaroid Corp. and the Shanghai Motion Picture Industry Co., within the framework of China's foreign investment climate. Discusses the evolution of foreign investment in China, from the so-called treaty ports in the mid-nineteenth century to the creation of Special Economic Zones in the latter part of the twentieth century. A major section on the current investment regime details the negotiation and approval process, management and labor relations, the foreign exchange system, and the macroeconomic environment.

Authors :: Debora L. Spar

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: Global strategy, Joint ventures, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd." written by Debora L. Spar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Polaroid Shanghai facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Global strategy, Joint ventures and Global Business.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd.


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Polaroid Shanghai, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Polaroid Shanghai 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Polaroid Shanghai
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 Polaroid Shanghai




Strengths China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Polaroid Shanghai in China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study are -

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry

– China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Polaroid Shanghai to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Polaroid Shanghai to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Polaroid Shanghai is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 Polaroid Shanghai in the sector have low bargaining power. China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Polaroid Shanghai to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Polaroid Shanghai 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Polaroid Shanghai 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.

High brand equity

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– Polaroid Shanghai is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Strong track record of project management

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

Training and development

– Polaroid Shanghai has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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.

Analytics focus

– Polaroid Shanghai 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 Debora L. Spar 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.

Organizational Resilience of Polaroid Shanghai

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Polaroid Shanghai does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.






Weaknesses China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Polaroid Shanghai, firm in the HBR case study China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. HBR case study mentions - Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd., it seems that the employees of Polaroid Shanghai 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd., is just above the industry average. Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Polaroid Shanghai is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Polaroid Shanghai 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Polaroid Shanghai is planning to shift buying processes online.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Debora L. Spar suggests that, Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Polaroid Shanghai products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Polaroid Shanghai needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.




Opportunities China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. | 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. are -

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Polaroid Shanghai is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Polaroid Shanghai has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Increase in government spending

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

Leveraging digital technologies

– Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Polaroid Shanghai 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, Polaroid Shanghai 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, China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Polaroid Shanghai can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Manufacturing automation

– Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Polaroid Shanghai has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Polaroid Shanghai to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. case study. Polaroid Shanghai can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Polaroid Shanghai 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 Polaroid Shanghai to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Developing new processes and practices

– Polaroid Shanghai 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.




Threats China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. are -

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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Environmental challenges

– Polaroid Shanghai 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. Polaroid Shanghai can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.

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 Polaroid Shanghai.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Polaroid Shanghai with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Shortening product life cycle

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

Increasing wage structure of Polaroid Shanghai

– 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 Polaroid Shanghai.

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. Polaroid Shanghai 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.

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. Polaroid Shanghai can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

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

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 dependence on third party suppliers

– Polaroid Shanghai 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Polaroid Shanghai 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. 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 Polaroid Shanghai needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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