Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters
OOCL is one of the world's largest integrated international container transportation, logistics and terminal companies, with a network covering Asia, Europe, North America and Australasia. The company is well respected in the industry with a reputation for providing customer-focused solutions, a quality-through-excellence approach and continual innovation. It has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 1973. In a volatile industry, it has to compete and form alliances. It has a history of investing widely with variable results.
Swot Analysis of "Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters" written by Ali Farhoomand, Tim Summers includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Oocl Container facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Oocl Container, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Oocl Container 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Oocl Container
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 Oocl Container
Strengths Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Oocl Container in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Oocl Container 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Oocl Container is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Oocl Container 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 Oocl Container is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Oocl Container is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Oocl Container in the sector have low bargaining power. Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Oocl Container to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Oocl Container has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Oocl Container is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Oocl Container 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Oocl Container digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Oocl Container 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Oocl Container has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Oocl Container 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Oocl Container 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.
Weaknesses Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Oocl Container 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Oocl Container 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 - Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Oocl Container 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. Oocl Container 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Oocl Container 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters, in the dynamic environment Oocl Container has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Oocl Container 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, Oocl Container 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Oocl Container products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Oocl Container needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Oocl Container 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Oocl Container 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Oocl Container is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Opportunities Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters | 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Oocl Container has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Oocl Container to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters case study. Oocl Container can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Oocl Container can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Oocl Container 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Oocl Container to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Oocl Container 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Oocl Container to increase its market reach. Oocl Container 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.
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. Oocl Container can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Oocl Container 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Oocl Container can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Oocl Container can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Oocl Container 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Oocl Container 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Oocl Container 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Oocl Container 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 Oocl Container to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters are -
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. Oocl Container can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Oocl Container 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters, Oocl Container 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 .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Oocl Container is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Oocl Container 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters .
Environmental challenges
– Oocl Container 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. Oocl Container can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High 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. Oocl Container needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Oocl Container 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Oocl Container 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Oocl Container 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.
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. Oocl Container 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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 Oocl Container needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
