Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li
Tommy Li was a designer and brand consultant renowned for his black humour and bold visual impact. With business spanning Hong Kong, China, Macau, Japan and Italy, he was one of the few Hong Kong designers to have entered the international market. In his ten years of experience as a design staff member, Li learned that "getting the right client is the key to a successful design consultancy business." Therefore, Li set up his own company to have full freedom in choosing his own clients, and his "choosing clients strategically" philosophy brought him great success. Consequently, he became a famous Hong Kong designer and brand consultant with reputable local and overseas clients. With international firms many times bigger than Li's firm entering China, Li saw mounting competitive pressure. Was Li's stardom an adequate defence against firms composed of multidisciplinary teams equipped with innovation-driven design thinking and processes? Was scale a critical issue in staying competitive? Was proximity to the market an important advantage?The brand consulting industry also faced intense competition from international business consultancies, advertising and public relations agencies. Each camp used a different approach to target the same group of brand-conscious clients. Could Li cope with these challenges?The case was developed to teach designers and design entrepreneurs. It is also suitable for MBA and other executive classes on entrepreneurship and creative business. This case is intended to achieve the following objectives: 1) study how strategic thinking guided Li to develop his design business despite changing market conditions 2) understand how path dependence and dynamic capabilities explain Li's success and challenges in a changing business environment 3) discuss the best approach to grow a design business - building methodology and processes or becoming a star in new markets.
Authors :: Kevin Au, Bernard Suen, Na Shen, Justine Tang
Swot Analysis of "Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li" written by Kevin Au, Bernard Suen, Na Shen, Justine Tang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Li Li's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, International business and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Li Li's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Li Li's 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Li Li's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Li Li's
Strengths Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Li Li's in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Li Li's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Li Li's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Li Li's in the sector have low bargaining power. Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Li Li's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Li Li's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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.
Learning organization
- Li Li's 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 Li Li's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Li Li's 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 Li Li's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Li Li's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Li Li's 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Li Li's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Li Li's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Li Li's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Li Li's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Li Li's has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Li Li's 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. Li Li's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Li Li's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li, it seems that the employees of Li Li's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Li Li's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Li Li's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Li Li's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Li Li's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li, is just above the industry average. Li Li's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Li Li's, firm in the HBR case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li, in the dynamic environment Li Li's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Li Li's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kevin Au, Bernard Suen, Na Shen, Justine Tang suggests that, Li Li's 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Li Li's 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Li Li's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Li Li's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li | 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li are -
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Li Li's to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Li Li's 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, Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Li Li's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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
– Li Li's 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Li Li's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Li Li's 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 Li Li's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Li Li's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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, Li Li's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Li Li's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Li Li's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Li Li's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Li Li's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Li Li's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Li Li's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Li Li's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li case study. Li Li's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li are -
Environmental challenges
– Li Li's 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. Li Li's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Li Li's 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.
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. Li Li's 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Li Li's 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.
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 Li Li's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Li Li's 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li, Li Li's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Li Li's 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 Li Li's in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Li Li's in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Li Li's
– 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 Li Li's.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Li Li's is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Right Clients, Right Way: Successes and Challenges of Brand Consultant Tommy Li 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 Li Li's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
