Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen
Linlin Chen, a sales manager at Allnation Import and Export Co. Ltd., is in her office looking at the revenue reports for her sales in the past three months. Her numbers are very good, and she knows she is about to be rewarded with a promotion and the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company. Chen has been thinking about becoming an entrepreneur for some time. As she weighs the risks and the opportunities, she realizes that she needs to make a decision within nine days, when she will be asked to become a shareholder in the company.
Swot Analysis of "Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen" written by Fernando Olivera, Bin Zhao includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Linlin Chen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Professional transitions and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Linlin Chen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Linlin Chen
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 Linlin Chen
Strengths Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Linlin Chen in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Linlin Chen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Linlin Chen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Linlin Chen 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.
Analytics focus
– Linlin Chen 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 Fernando Olivera, Bin Zhao 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Linlin Chen in the sector have low bargaining power. Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Linlin Chen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Linlin Chen digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Linlin Chen 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Linlin Chen 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Linlin Chen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Linlin Chen
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Linlin Chen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Linlin Chen is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Linlin Chen has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Linlin Chen to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Linlin Chen in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Linlin Chen 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen, in the dynamic environment Linlin Chen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Linlin Chen has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Linlin Chen 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Linlin Chen 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Linlin Chen has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen HBR case study mentions - Linlin Chen 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Linlin Chen products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Linlin Chen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Linlin Chen has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Linlin Chen 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen, is just above the industry average. Linlin Chen 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, Linlin Chen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen | 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen are -
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. Linlin Chen can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Linlin Chen 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, Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen, 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Linlin Chen can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Linlin Chen in the consumer business. Now Linlin Chen can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Linlin Chen can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Linlin Chen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Linlin Chen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Linlin Chen can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Linlin Chen operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
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 Linlin Chen 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Linlin Chen 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Linlin Chen 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Linlin Chen 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. Linlin Chen 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Linlin Chen has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Linlin Chen to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen case study. Linlin Chen can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Linlin Chen demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen, Linlin Chen 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 .
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. Linlin Chen needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Linlin Chen with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Linlin Chen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Linlin Chen 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Linlin Chen 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Linlin Chen has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Linlin Chen needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Linlin Chen
– 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 Linlin Chen.
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. Linlin Chen 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.
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 Linlin Chen.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Linlin Chen 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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 Career Choice of Ms. Linlin Chen 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 Linlin Chen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
