CEFC Hong Kong Financial (1520) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Apparel/Accessories
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for CEFC Hong Kong Financial (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , CEFC Hong Kong Financial is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CEFC Hong Kong Financial
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that CEFC Hong Kong Financial can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the CEFC Hong Kong Financial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of CEFC Hong Kong Financial
2. Improving business portfolio management of CEFC Hong Kong Financial
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Apparel/Accessories sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of CEFC Hong Kong Financial
Strengths of CEFC Hong Kong Financial | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of CEFC Hong Kong Financial are -
Organizational Resilience of CEFC Hong Kong Financial
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing CEFC Hong Kong Financial does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at CEFC Hong Kong Financial emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial has one of the best training and development program in Consumer Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of CEFC Hong Kong Financial in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. CEFC Hong Kong Financial has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps CEFC Hong Kong Financial to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of CEFC Hong Kong Financial comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Apparel/Accessories 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Apparel/Accessories industry
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled CEFC Hong Kong Financial to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Apparel/Accessories industry. The sustainable margins have also helped CEFC Hong Kong Financial to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled CEFC Hong Kong Financial to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management in the Apparel/Accessories industry
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial is one of the leading players in the Apparel/Accessories industry in Hong Kong. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Hong Kong. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Apparel/Accessories
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial is one of the leading players in the Apparel/Accessories industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Apparel/Accessories industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled CEFC Hong Kong Financial in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Apparel/Accessories industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For CEFC Hong Kong Financial digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – CEFC Hong Kong Financial staying ahead in the Apparel/Accessories industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of CEFC Hong Kong Financial | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of CEFC Hong Kong Financial are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, CEFC Hong Kong Financial needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
Employees’ less understanding of CEFC Hong Kong Financial strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of CEFC Hong Kong Financial, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Apparel/Accessories industry. 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As CEFC Hong Kong Financial is one of the leading players in the Apparel/Accessories industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Apparel/Accessories industry in last five years.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Apparel/Accessories industry, CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Apparel/Accessories industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 Apparel/Accessories industry.
High dependence on CEFC Hong Kong Financial ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of CEFC Hong Kong Financial still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Apparel/Accessories industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though CEFC Hong Kong Financial has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
CEFC Hong Kong Financial has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Apparel/Accessories industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, CEFC Hong Kong Financial has high operating costs in the Apparel/Accessories industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract CEFC Hong Kong Financial lucrative customers.
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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, CEFC Hong Kong Financial is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left CEFC Hong Kong Financial vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
CEFC Hong Kong Financial Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of CEFC Hong Kong Financial are -
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. CEFC Hong Kong Financial can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Apparel/Accessories sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled CEFC Hong Kong Financial to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 in Apparel/Accessories industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for CEFC Hong Kong Financial in the Apparel/Accessories industry. Now CEFC Hong Kong Financial can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for CEFC Hong Kong Financial to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for CEFC Hong Kong Financial in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Apparel/Accessories industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
Manufacturing automation
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Apparel/Accessories sector. 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.
Buying journey improvements
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Apparel/Accessories industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, CEFC Hong Kong Financial is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. CEFC Hong Kong Financial can utilize new technology in the field of Apparel/Accessories industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help CEFC Hong Kong Financial to increase its market reach. CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, CEFC Hong Kong Financial can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that CEFC Hong Kong Financial operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Apparel/Accessories sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial can develop new processes and procedures in Apparel/Accessories 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.
Threats CEFC Hong Kong Financial External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of CEFC Hong Kong Financial are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Apparel/Accessories industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, CEFC Hong Kong Financial needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Apparel/Accessories 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Apparel/Accessories industry are lowering. It can presents CEFC Hong Kong Financial with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Apparel/Accessories sector.
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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial is facing in Apparel/Accessories sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Apparel/Accessories industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. CEFC Hong Kong Financial can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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. CEFC Hong Kong Financial can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Apparel/Accessories industry.
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. CEFC Hong Kong Financial needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Apparel/Accessories industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for CEFC Hong Kong Financial in Apparel/Accessories industry. The Apparel/Accessories 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.
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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 Apparel/Accessories industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, CEFC Hong Kong Financial may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Apparel/Accessories sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of CEFC Hong Kong Financial Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial 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 CEFC Hong Kong Financial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.