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 – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, 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 -

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.

Analytics focus

– Universal Health Int 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 Retail (Drugs) industry. The technology infrastructure of Hong Kong is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Organizational Resilience of Universal Health Int

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Universal Health Int does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Ability to lead change in Retail (Drugs)

– Universal Health Int is one of the leading players in the Retail (Drugs) industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Drugs) industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Universal Health Int 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Universal Health Int has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Universal Health Int staying ahead in the Retail (Drugs) 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 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.

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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Universal Health Int comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Drugs) 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.

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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 -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Drugs) industry, Universal Health Int 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.

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.

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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Universal Health Int 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.

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.

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.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Drugs) industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, Universal Health Int 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 Retail (Drugs) industry.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Universal Health Int, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Retail (Drugs) 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.

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.

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 Universal Health Int supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Universal Health Int is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Universal Health Int vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High dependence on Universal Health Int ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Universal Health Int still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Retail (Drugs) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Universal Health Int has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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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 -

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Universal Health Int is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Universal Health Int can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Drugs) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

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.

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.

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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Universal Health Int can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Retail (Drugs) industry.

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. Universal Health Int can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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.

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.

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.

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 Universal Health Int 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.

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.

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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Universal Health Int 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 Universal Health Int to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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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 -

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Universal Health Int may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Retail (Drugs) sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Universal Health Int 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 Retail (Drugs) industry.

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.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Retail (Drugs) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Universal Health Int can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Universal Health Int has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Drugs) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Universal Health Int needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Drugs) 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Universal Health Int in Retail (Drugs) industry. The Retail (Drugs) industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

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.

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.

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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Drugs) industry are lowering. It can presents Universal Health Int with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Drugs) sector.

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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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