C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy
Founded in 1974, C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd. became one of the largest metal traders in Hong Kong in the 1980s. Looks at how the beliefs of its CEO, Joseph Yeung, in honest behavior and Chinese cultural philosophy influenced his management style and made him a successful business leader and entrepreneur.
Authors :: Shunyin Lam, Simon Lam, Scarlet Chan, Shirley Chan
Swot Analysis of "C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy" written by Shunyin Lam, Simon Lam, Scarlet Chan, Shirley Chan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Yeung Philosophy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Managing people, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Yeung Philosophy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Yeung Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Yeung Philosophy
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 Yeung Philosophy
Strengths C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Yeung Philosophy in C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Yeung Philosophy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Yeung Philosophy 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.
Training and development
– Yeung Philosophy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Yeung Philosophy 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 Yeung Philosophy in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Yeung Philosophy in the sector have low bargaining power. C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Yeung Philosophy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Yeung Philosophy 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 Yeung Philosophy in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Yeung Philosophy digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Yeung Philosophy 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Yeung Philosophy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Yeung Philosophy 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Yeung Philosophy 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Yeung Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Yeung Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 Yeung Philosophy 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy, it seems that the employees of Yeung Philosophy 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Yeung Philosophy is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Yeung Philosophy products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Yeung Philosophy needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Yeung Philosophy 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy HBR case study mentions - Yeung Philosophy 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Yeung Philosophy 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Yeung Philosophy is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Yeung Philosophy 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 - C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Yeung Philosophy 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.
Opportunities C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy | 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Yeung Philosophy has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Yeung Philosophy to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy case study. Yeung Philosophy can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Yeung Philosophy can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Yeung Philosophy can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Yeung Philosophy 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 Yeung Philosophy to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Yeung Philosophy 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Yeung Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Yeung Philosophy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Yeung Philosophy 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Yeung Philosophy 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Yeung Philosophy 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Yeung Philosophy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Yeung Philosophy 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
– Yeung Philosophy 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.
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. Yeung Philosophy can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Yeung Philosophy 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.
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.
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. Yeung Philosophy 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.
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. Yeung Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy, Yeung Philosophy 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Yeung Philosophy 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. Yeung Philosophy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Yeung Philosophy with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Yeung Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Yeung Philosophy 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.
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 Yeung Philosophy business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Yeung Philosophy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Yeung Philosophy in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Yeung Philosophy 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 C. K. Yeung Worldwide Ltd.: Management as Art, Science, and Philosophy 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 Yeung Philosophy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.