Brilliant Circle Intl (1008) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Printing Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Brilliant Circle Intl (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Brilliant Circle Intl is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Brilliant Circle Intl
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Brilliant Circle Intl can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Brilliant Circle Intl, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Brilliant Circle Intl operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Brilliant Circle Intl can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Brilliant Circle Intl
2. Improving business portfolio management of Brilliant Circle Intl
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Printing Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Brilliant Circle Intl
Strengths of Brilliant Circle Intl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Brilliant Circle Intl are -
Ability to lead change in Printing Services
– Brilliant Circle Intl is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Printing Services industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Brilliant Circle Intl in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Brilliant Circle Intl has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Brilliant Circle Intl is one of the most innovative firm in Printing Services sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Brilliant Circle Intl in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Brilliant Circle Intl has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Brilliant Circle Intl to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Brilliant Circle Intl
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Brilliant Circle Intl does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Brilliant Circle Intl has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Brilliant Circle Intl staying ahead in the Printing Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Printing Services industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Printing Services industry
– Brilliant Circle Intl has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Brilliant Circle Intl to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Printing Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Brilliant Circle Intl to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Printing Services 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Brilliant Circle Intl in Printing Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Brilliant Circle Intl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Brilliant Circle Intl are -
Employees’ less understanding of Brilliant Circle Intl strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Printing Services industry, Brilliant Circle Intl 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Brilliant Circle Intl has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Printing Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Brilliant Circle Intl, in the dynamic environment of Printing Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Brilliant Circle Intl has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, Brilliant Circle Intl needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Brilliant Circle Intl supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Brilliant Circle Intl is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Brilliant Circle Intl vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Brilliant Circle Intl, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Printing Services industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Brilliant Circle Intl is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Printing Services industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Brilliant Circle Intl needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Printing Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Brilliant Circle Intl can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Brilliant Circle Intl is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Brilliant Circle Intl is just above the Printing Services 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
Brilliant Circle Intl Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Brilliant Circle Intl are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Brilliant Circle Intl can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Brilliant Circle Intl can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Printing Services 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Printing Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Brilliant Circle Intl in the Printing Services industry. Now Brilliant Circle Intl can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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, Brilliant Circle Intl can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Brilliant Circle Intl operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Printing Services sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Brilliant Circle Intl can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Printing Services 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Brilliant Circle Intl to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Brilliant Circle Intl has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Printing Services industry. This can help Brilliant Circle Intl to build a more holistic ecosystem for Brilliant Circle Intl products in the Printing Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Printing Services industry.
Threats Brilliant Circle Intl External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Brilliant Circle Intl are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Brilliant Circle Intl in Printing Services industry. The Printing Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Brilliant Circle Intl business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl prominent markets.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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.
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. Brilliant Circle Intl needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Printing Services 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 Brilliant Circle Intl in the Printing Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Brilliant Circle Intl has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Printing Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Brilliant Circle Intl needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Printing Services 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Printing Services industry are lowering. It can presents Brilliant Circle Intl with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Printing Services sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Brilliant Circle Intl is facing in Printing Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Printing Services industry.
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 Brilliant Circle Intl.
Increasing wage structure of Brilliant Circle Intl
– 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 Brilliant Circle Intl.
Regulatory challenges
– Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Printing Services industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Brilliant Circle Intl Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Brilliant Circle Intl needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.