Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy
In early 1996, Phil Stephenson, the director of China for Bundy Asia Pacific (BAP), leaned back in front of his office window in Adelaide, Australia. He had been preoccupied with Bundy's business in China since his meeting that morning with BAP's CEO, Tony Martin. Martin had shown Phil the fax from Robin Thompson, the new marketing and product development director of Bundy International, BAP's U.K.-based parent company. Thompson had asked BAP about its strategy for the refrigeration business in China. Despite 10 years of experience in China, Bundy had not met its market goals. Whatever strategy was developed, it would be an important part of Bundy's proposed global refrigeration strategy. This is a rich case, with detailed discussion possible around issues including: 1) business (re)development strategy, 2) joint ventures versus wholly owned subsidiaries, 3) organizational structure, and 4) expatriate and local staffing.
Authors :: Paul W. Beamish, Jack Li, Nancy Wang, Steven Zuo
Swot Analysis of "Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy" written by Paul W. Beamish, Jack Li, Nancy Wang, Steven Zuo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bundy Bap facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures, Operations management, Organizational structure and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bundy Bap, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bundy Bap
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 Bundy Bap
Strengths Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bundy Bap in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Bundy Bap is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Bundy Bap is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Bundy Bap
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bundy Bap does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Bap in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Bundy Bap has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bundy Bap to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Bundy Bap 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
– Bundy Bap has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bundy Bap in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Bap is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bundy Bap has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bundy Bap 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bundy Bap is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bundy Bap is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bundy Bap 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bundy Bap, firm in the HBR case study Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy, 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 Bundy Bap is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Bundy Bap needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bundy Bap to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bundy Bap 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy HBR case study mentions - Bundy Bap 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bundy Bap 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bundy Bap is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bundy Bap 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bundy Bap has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Bundy Bap even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy | 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bundy Bap 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Bundy Bap 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
– Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bundy Bap to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bundy Bap 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, Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bundy Bap 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bundy Bap to increase its market reach. Bundy Bap 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.
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. Bundy Bap can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bundy Bap in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bundy Bap can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bundy Bap operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Bap to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bundy Bap 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bundy Bap has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bundy Bap to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy case study. Bundy Bap can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Bundy Bap in the consumer business. Now Bundy Bap can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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.
Environmental challenges
– Bundy Bap 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. Bundy Bap 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 Bundy Bap.
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. Bundy Bap needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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 Bundy Bap business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Bundy Bap 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bundy Bap with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bundy Bap 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bundy Bap is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Bundy Bap 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.
Increasing wage structure of Bundy Bap
– 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 Bundy Bap.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy, Bundy Bap 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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 Bundy Asia Pacific: China Strategy 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 Bundy Bap needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
