Brilliant Circle Intl (1008) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / 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 – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, etc

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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.

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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

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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 -

Diverse revenue streams

– Brilliant Circle Intl is present in almost all the verticals within the Printing Services industry. This has provided Brilliant Circle Intl 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.

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.

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.

Strong track record of project management in the Printing Services industry

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

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.

High brand equity

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

Innovation driven organization

– Brilliant Circle Intl is one of the most innovative firm in Printing Services sector.

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.

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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Brilliant Circle Intl has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Printing Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Brilliant Circle Intl have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Brilliant Circle Intl are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

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Weaknesses of Brilliant Circle Intl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Brilliant Circle Intl are -

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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Brilliant Circle Intl has high operating costs in the Printing Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Brilliant Circle Intl lucrative customers.

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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Printing Services industry using digital technology.

High dependence on Brilliant Circle Intl ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Brilliant Circle Intl still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Printing Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Brilliant Circle Intl has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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.

Need for greater diversity

– Brilliant Circle Intl 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.

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.

Products dominated business model

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

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.

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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 -

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

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.

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.

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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Brilliant Circle Intl in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Printing Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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.

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.

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.

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. Brilliant Circle Intl can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Brilliant Circle Intl to increase its market reach. Brilliant Circle Intl 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

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.

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.

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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 -

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.

Easy access to finance

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

Consumer confidence and its impact on Brilliant Circle Intl 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 Printing Services industry and other sectors.

Environmental challenges

– Brilliant Circle Intl 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. Brilliant Circle Intl can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Printing Services industry.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Brilliant Circle Intl may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Printing Services sector.

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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.

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