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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, 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.
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.
Innovation driven organization
– Oocl Container is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Oocl Container in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Oocl Container 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 Ali Farhoomand, Tim Summers 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.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Oocl Container
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Oocl Container does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Oocl Container to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Oocl Container to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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.
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.
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 -
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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ali Farhoomand, Tim Summers suggests that, Oocl Container 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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Oocl Container supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Oocl Container vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters HBR case study mentions - Oocl Container 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Oocl Container, firm in the HBR case study Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Oocl Container 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Oocl Container is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Oocl Container needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Oocl Container to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Oocl Container 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, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Oocl Container in the consumer business. Now Oocl Container can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Oocl Container 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.
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.
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.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Oocl Container is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL): Sailing Through Choppy Waters 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, Oocl Container can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Oocl Container operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Oocl Container with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
Increasing wage structure of Oocl Container
– 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 Oocl Container.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Oocl Container has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Oocl Container needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Oocl Container 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.
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.
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 Oocl Container business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.