J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO
8 December 2005 was a very special day for J-Com Co. Ltd's ("J-Com") as this was the day the company would be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ("TSE"). However, when a sell order for more than 40 times the firm's outstanding shares was placed by Mizuho Securities ("Mizuho Sec") the exchange was thrown into turmoil. Before the end of the day, Mizuho Sec suffered losses of at least A?27 billion following an input order for the sale of one share for A?610,000 which was accidentally entered as 610,000 shares for A?1 each. What steps should J-Com president, Yasuhiko Okamoto, take in light of the events? How should the TSE, Mizuho sec and the other brokerages react? The real crux of this case is managerial decision making and the value of good leadership when something unexpected happens.
Swot Analysis of "J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO" written by Mitsuru Misawa includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mizuho 610,000 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Currency, Financial markets, IPO, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mizuho 610,000, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mizuho 610,000 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mizuho 610,000
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mizuho 610,000
Strengths J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mizuho 610,000 in J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mizuho 610,000 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mizuho 610,000 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mizuho 610,000 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mizuho 610,000 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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.
High brand equity
– Mizuho 610,000 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mizuho 610,000 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Mizuho 610,000
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mizuho 610,000 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Mizuho 610,000 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 Mitsuru Misawa 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 Mizuho 610,000 in the sector have low bargaining power. J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mizuho 610,000 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mizuho 610,000 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Mizuho 610,000 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Mizuho 610,000 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 Mizuho 610,000 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mizuho 610,000 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mizuho 610,000 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Mizuho 610,000 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO, it seems that the employees of Mizuho 610,000 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO HBR case study mentions - Mizuho 610,000 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 Mizuho 610,000 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO, in the dynamic environment Mizuho 610,000 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mizuho 610,000 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mizuho 610,000 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 - J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mizuho 610,000 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO, is just above the industry average. Mizuho 610,000 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mizuho 610,000 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mizuho 610,000 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. Mizuho 610,000 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO | 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mizuho 610,000 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mizuho 610,000 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO case study. Mizuho 610,000 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Mizuho 610,000 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mizuho 610,000 to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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 Mizuho 610,000 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mizuho 610,000 to increase its market reach. Mizuho 610,000 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mizuho 610,000 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mizuho 610,000 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, J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mizuho 610,000 in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Mizuho 610,000 can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mizuho 610,000 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
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 Mizuho 610,000 in the consumer business. Now Mizuho 610,000 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Mizuho 610,000 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mizuho 610,000 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.
Threats J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mizuho 610,000 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mizuho 610,000 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mizuho 610,000
– 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 Mizuho 610,000.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mizuho 610,000 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mizuho 610,000 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Mizuho 610,000 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO, Mizuho 610,000 may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mizuho 610,000 is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Mizuho 610,000 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. Mizuho 610,000 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Mizuho 610,000 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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 Mizuho 610,000.
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 Mizuho 610,000 in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mizuho 610,000 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 J-COM: Share-Trade Irregularities on The Day of IPO 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 Mizuho 610,000 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
