Universal Health Int (2211) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Universal Health Int (Hong Kong)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Universal Health Int is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Universal Health Int

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Universal Health Int can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Universal Health Int, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Universal Health Int 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Universal Health Int can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Universal Health Int
2. Improving business portfolio management of Universal Health Int
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Retail (Drugs) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Universal Health Int

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Strengths of Universal Health Int | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Universal Health Int are -

Innovation driven organization

– Universal Health Int is one of the most innovative firm in Retail (Drugs) sector.

Training and development

– Universal Health Int has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.

Learning organization

- Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Universal Health Int emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Drugs) industry

– Universal Health Int is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Universal Health Int has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Drugs) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Universal Health Int have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Digital Transformation in Retail (Drugs) industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Universal Health Int digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Universal Health Int 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Universal Health Int is one of the leading players in the Retail (Drugs) 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Universal Health Int 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 Retail (Drugs) industry

– Universal Health Int has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Universal Health Int to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Drugs) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Universal Health Int to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Universal Health Int in Retail (Drugs) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Diverse revenue streams

– Universal Health Int is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Drugs) industry. This has provided Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int 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.

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Weaknesses of Universal Health Int | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Universal Health Int are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Universal Health Int is one of the leading players in the Retail (Drugs) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Drugs) industry in last five years.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Universal Health Int has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Retail (Drugs) 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, Universal Health Int has high operating costs in the Retail (Drugs) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Universal Health Int lucrative customers.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, Universal Health Int needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Skills based hiring in Retail (Drugs) industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Universal Health Int 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 harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Universal Health Int is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Universal Health Int to provide better information regarding Retail (Drugs) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Lack of clear differentiation of Universal Health Int products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Universal Health Int needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Employees’ less understanding of Universal Health Int strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Universal Health Int 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

– From the outside it seems that Universal Health Int needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Retail (Drugs) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Universal Health Int can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Universal Health Int is planning to shift buying processes online.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Universal Health Int has some of the most successful models in the Retail (Drugs) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Universal Health Int should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Need for greater diversity

– Universal Health Int 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.

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Universal Health Int Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Universal Health Int are -

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Universal Health Int to increase its market reach. Universal Health Int 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Universal Health Int 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Universal Health Int can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Universal Health Int operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Retail (Drugs) sector.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Universal Health Int has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Drugs) industry. This can help Universal Health Int to build a more holistic ecosystem for Universal Health Int products in the Retail (Drugs) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– Universal Health Int can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Retail (Drugs) 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Drugs) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Universal Health Int can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Universal Health Int can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Universal Health Int in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Retail (Drugs) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Drugs) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Universal Health Int can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Universal Health Int can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Developing new processes and practices

– Universal Health Int can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Drugs) 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Universal Health Int 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Drugs) industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Universal Health Int in the Retail (Drugs) industry. Now Universal Health Int can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Universal Health Int can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Drugs) 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.

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Threats Universal Health Int External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Universal Health Int are -

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.

Increasing wage structure of Universal Health Int

– 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 Universal Health Int.

Regulatory challenges

– Universal Health Int 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 Retail (Drugs) industry regulations.

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. Universal Health Int needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Drugs) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Universal Health Int in the Retail (Drugs) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Universal Health Int is facing in Retail (Drugs) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Universal Health Int 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.

Environmental challenges

– Universal Health Int 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. Universal Health Int can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Drugs) industry.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

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 Universal Health Int business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Universal Health Int 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 Retail (Drugs) industry and other sectors.

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 Universal Health Int.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Universal Health Int 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Universal Health Int Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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