Chow Sang Sang Int (116) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Chow Sang Sang Int (Hong Kong)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Chow Sang Sang Int is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Chow Sang Sang Int

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Chow Sang Sang Int can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chow Sang Sang Int, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chow Sang Sang 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 Chow Sang Sang Int can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Chow Sang Sang Int
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chow Sang Sang Int
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Jewelry & Silverware sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Chow Sang Sang Int

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

The strengths of Chow Sang Sang Int are -

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Chow Sang Sang Int comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Jewelry & Silverware 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.

Digital Transformation in Jewelry & Silverware industry

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

Training and development

– Chow Sang Sang Int 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Chow Sang Sang Int is one of the most innovative firm in Jewelry & Silverware sector.

High brand equity

– Chow Sang Sang Int has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chow Sang Sang Int to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Jewelry & Silverware industry

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

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Chow Sang Sang 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Chow Sang Sang Int has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Jewelry & Silverware industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Chow Sang Sang Int have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Chow Sang Sang Int is one of the leading players in the Jewelry & Silverware 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 Chow Sang Sang 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.

Strong track record of project management in the Jewelry & Silverware industry

– Chow Sang Sang 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 Chow Sang Sang Int in Jewelry & Silverware industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

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

The weaknesses of Chow Sang Sang Int are -

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Chow Sang Sang 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.

Skills based hiring in Jewelry & Silverware industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Chow Sang Sang 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Chow Sang Sang Int is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Jewelry & Silverware industry, but Chow Sang Sang Int needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Chow Sang Sang Int to focus more on services in the Jewelry & Silverware industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Chow Sang Sang Int is one of the leading players in the Jewelry & Silverware industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Jewelry & Silverware industry in last five years.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Jewelry & Silverware industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, Chow Sang Sang 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry.

Products dominated business model

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

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Chow Sang Sang Int has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Jewelry & Silverware 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, Chow Sang Sang Int has high operating costs in the Jewelry & Silverware industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Chow Sang Sang Int lucrative customers.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Chow Sang Sang Int has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Jewelry & Silverware industry over the last five years. Chow Sang Sang Int even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Need for greater diversity

– Chow Sang Sang 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Chow Sang Sang Int is just above the Jewelry & Silverware industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

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

The opportunities of Chow Sang Sang Int are -

Developing new processes and practices

– Chow Sang Sang Int can develop new processes and procedures in Jewelry & Silverware 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Chow Sang Sang 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 Jewelry & Silverware 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. Chow Sang Sang Int can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Chow Sang Sang Int can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Chow Sang Sang Int operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Jewelry & Silverware sector.

Buying journey improvements

– Chow Sang Sang Int can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Jewelry & Silverware 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Chow Sang Sang 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chow Sang Sang Int 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 Chow Sang Sang Int to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Jewelry & Silverware industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Chow Sang Sang 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. Chow Sang Sang 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Chow Sang Sang Int is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Chow Sang Sang Int can utilize new technology in the field of Jewelry & Silverware industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

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 Chow Sang Sang 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Jewelry & Silverware industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Chow Sang Sang Int in the Jewelry & Silverware industry. Now Chow Sang Sang Int can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Chow Sang Sang Int has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Jewelry & Silverware sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Chow Sang Sang Int to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Chow Sang Sang Int to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Chow Sang Sang 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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Threats Chow Sang Sang Int External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Chow Sang Sang Int are -

Regulatory challenges

– Chow Sang Sang 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry regulations.

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.

Increasing wage structure of Chow Sang Sang 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 Chow Sang Sang Int.

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. Chow Sang Sang 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.

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.

Easy access to finance

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

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Chow Sang Sang Int in Jewelry & Silverware industry. The Jewelry & Silverware 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Chow Sang Sang 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry and other sectors.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Jewelry & Silverware industry are lowering. It can presents Chow Sang Sang Int with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Jewelry & Silverware sector.

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. Chow Sang Sang Int needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Jewelry & Silverware industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Chow Sang Sang Int is facing in Jewelry & Silverware sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Chow Sang Sang 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.

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 Chow Sang Sang Int business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Chow Sang Sang Int Template, Example

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

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