Emperor Int (163) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Emperor Int (Hong Kong)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Emperor Int is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Emperor Int

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

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

The strengths of Emperor Int are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Emperor Int has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Emperor Int staying ahead in the Casinos & Gaming industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Emperor Int has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Emperor Int has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Emperor 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.

High brand equity

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

Diverse revenue streams

– Emperor Int is present in almost all the verticals within the Casinos & Gaming industry. This has provided Emperor 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.

Organizational Resilience of Emperor Int

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

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Emperor Int in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Emperor Int has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Emperor Int to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Learning organization

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Casinos & Gaming industry

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

Training and development

– Emperor 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Emperor Int comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Casinos & Gaming 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.

Ability to lead change in Casinos & Gaming

– Emperor Int is one of the leading players in the Casinos & Gaming industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Casinos & Gaming industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Emperor Int in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

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

The weaknesses of Emperor Int are -

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Emperor 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.

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

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Emperor Int, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Casinos & Gaming 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Emperor Int has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Casinos & Gaming industry using digital technology.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Emperor 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 Casinos & Gaming industry over the last five years. Emperor 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Casinos & Gaming industry, Emperor 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.

High dependence on Emperor Int ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Emperor Int still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Casinos & Gaming industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Emperor Int has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Emperor Int, in the dynamic environment of Casinos & Gaming industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Emperor Int has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Casinos & Gaming industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, Emperor 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 Casinos & Gaming industry.

Need for greater diversity

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

The opportunities of Emperor Int are -

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 Emperor 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.

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

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Emperor 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

Leveraging digital technologies

– Emperor Int 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Emperor 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Emperor Int can develop new processes and procedures in Casinos & Gaming 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 Emperor 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 Casinos & Gaming industry.

Creating value in data economy

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

Manufacturing automation

– Emperor Int can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Casinos & Gaming 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Casinos & Gaming industry

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

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

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

The threats of Emperor 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.

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 Emperor Int.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Emperor Int 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 Emperor Int prominent markets.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Emperor 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 Casinos & Gaming sector.

Easy access to finance

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

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Emperor Int in the Casinos & Gaming sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Barriers of entry lowering

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

Consumer confidence and its impact on Emperor 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 Casinos & Gaming industry and other sectors.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Emperor Int has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Casinos & Gaming industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Emperor Int needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Casinos & Gaming 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.

Environmental challenges

– Emperor 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. Emperor Int can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Casinos & Gaming industry.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Emperor Int in Casinos & Gaming industry. The Casinos & Gaming 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Emperor 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Emperor 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 Casinos & Gaming industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Emperor Int Template, Example

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

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