Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World
This case considers the entrepreneurial career of Olivia Lum, who founded the Singaporean water company Hyflux in 1989. An orphan born in Malaysia, Lum provides a rare case of an entrepreneurial success in a country whose economic success has primarily rested on state-owned and foreign firms. The case describes the formidable challenges she initially faced, her subsequent breakthrough in China, and the subsequent growth as a global water treatment company employing membrane technology. In 2004 the company entered the large Middle Eastern market for water treatment but soon encountered problems, including political turbulence. The case ends with demonstrations and an emergent crisis in Libya in 2011, a country in which Hyflux had recently invested. The case offers opportunities to explore the nature of entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia, the business importance of relationships between overseas Chinese and mainland China, and the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs. More broadly, it serves as vehicle for teaching students about the global water crisis and the role of business in helping to resolve it.
Swot Analysis of "Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World" written by Geoffrey G. Jones, Essie Alamsyah includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lum Hyflux facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Entrepreneurship, Globalization, Operations management, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World casestudy better are - – technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lum Hyflux, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lum Hyflux 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lum Hyflux
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 Lum Hyflux
Strengths Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lum Hyflux in Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lum Hyflux 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.
Analytics focus
– Lum Hyflux 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 Geoffrey G. Jones, Essie Alamsyah 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Lum Hyflux is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lum Hyflux is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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.
Organizational Resilience of Lum Hyflux
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lum Hyflux does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lum Hyflux 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Lum Hyflux 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lum Hyflux to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lum Hyflux to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Lum Hyflux 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 Lum Hyflux in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Lum Hyflux is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lum Hyflux has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lum Hyflux 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.
Weaknesses Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lum Hyflux is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Lum Hyflux needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lum Hyflux to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lum Hyflux, firm in the HBR case study Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lum Hyflux 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lum Hyflux 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 - Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Geoffrey G. Jones, Essie Alamsyah suggests that, Lum Hyflux is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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 Lum Hyflux 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World, 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.
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 Lum Hyflux supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lum Hyflux vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World, is just above the industry average. Lum Hyflux 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, Lum Hyflux is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lum Hyflux 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.
Opportunities Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World | 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lum Hyflux can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lum Hyflux can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lum Hyflux operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Lum Hyflux can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lum Hyflux 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lum Hyflux 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lum Hyflux to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Lum Hyflux in the consumer business. Now Lum Hyflux can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lum Hyflux 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lum Hyflux 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lum Hyflux 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 Lum Hyflux to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lum Hyflux has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lum Hyflux to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World case study. Lum Hyflux 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. Lum Hyflux can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Lum Hyflux to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lum Hyflux 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, Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World are -
Increasing wage structure of Lum Hyflux
– 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 Lum Hyflux.
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 Lum Hyflux in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lum Hyflux 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lum Hyflux has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lum Hyflux 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lum Hyflux with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lum Hyflux 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.
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 Lum Hyflux.
Environmental challenges
– Lum Hyflux 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. Lum Hyflux can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lum Hyflux is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lum Hyflux 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lum Hyflux 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lum Hyflux 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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 Olivia Lum: Wanting to Save the World 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 Lum Hyflux needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.