DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

Course Title Principles of Management

Course Code BMT 1023

Academic Session May 2020 – August 2020

Semester 2, 3 and 4

Lecturer Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen

Assignment (Individual)
Assessment

Weighting 10 %

30 May 2020
Released Date

Page 1 BMT 1023 Individual Assignment

 Submission Due Date 29 June 2020

Date Received

Marks Obtained

Student’s Declaration
I certify that this assignment is my own work, and appropriately acknowledged wherever
material adapted from other sources. I understand that plagiarism, cheating, collusion, fraud,
fabrication or falsifications of data are not acceptable. I agree that if at any time it is shown that I
have significantly misrepresented material submitted to Crescendo International College, any
marks or credits awarded to me on the basis of that material may be revoked.

Student Name TAN CHIAU YUEN Student ID DB1904309

Signature yuen Date 28/6/20

Table of content

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 No Content Pages
1 Swot analysis of 4-5
POPULAR bookstore
2 The benefits and limitations 6-8
of using SWOT analysis

3 References 9

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Principles of Management Assignment 2

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 a) SWOT analysis of POPULAR bookstore:
Strengths
-Strong local store network
 It is largest bookstore chain in
Malaysia, with over 600,000 square
feet of retail space, and it has currently due to lack of market research.
a total of 65 POPULAR outlets
located nationwide.
-Business diversification
 In addition to retailing, POPULAR
Book Company (M) Sdn.Bhd has 3
other core businesses which are book
distribution, publishing and e-learning.
-Mature target customer(POP card member)
 By operation a successful member
mechanism, it effectively helps
Popular bookshop owns its stable and
royal customers.
-Influential book fair in Malaysia
 As the main holder for the largest
book fair in Malaysia, Popular
bookshop own strong resource
advantage and brand building and
promoting opportunity.
Page 4
Weaknesses
- Expanding too fast
Too fast expanding will bring many problems,
such as customer purchase power problem
- Rely too much on merchandising
Impact by information technology and
internet, the market of traditional paper book
will not be such bright as before. How to
redistribute the resource to find a new way to
hold and develop market is a vital mission.
- Online selling
Electronic business is taking more and more
important position in modern business. It is
very essential for Popular to enhance its
online service.
- The market is not wide enough
Popular focus more on the Asian market
rather than international market.
BMT 1023 Individual Assignment
 Opportunities
- More advanced technology
As development of internet and information
technology, traditional book store not only
gets on the transition road, but also faces to a
big opportunity to develop in new market.
- Better management system
Also benefit by the IT, the traditional
management system has opportunity to
develop, and will become more and more
effective and efficient.
- Ecommerce
New opportunity for new business
exploitation, such as E-book.
- Organizing event
Opportunity for Popular Book Company to
enhance influence in Asian area by holding
influential activities such as book festivals.
(b) Discuss the benefits and limitations of using SWOT Analysis.
Page 5
Threats
- Treats from present competitor
The main competitor for Popular in Malaysia
includes MPH, Borders Bookstores,
Kinokuniya Bookstores. These bookstores
have their own features to attract customers.
Now, they are also actively to do reform or
promote new service to develop market.
- Treats from future competitor
As the development and mature of the online
book selling, it is visible that due to entry cost
fall down, new competition will join in to the
big market cake. Certainly, the competition
will be more and more intensive.
- Treats from substitute products
The substitute product for traditional paper
book will be continuing appear and more and
more acceptable by public, such E-book, E-
dictionary, E-learning products.
- Changes in generation
Younger generation not read as much.
BMT 1023 Individual Assignment
 SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is a framework for
evaluating the company’s competitive position and formulating strategic plans. SWOT analysis
assesses internal and external factors as well as current and future potential. SWOT analysis is
designed to promote the pros and cons of organizations, their plans or industries based on facts,
facts and data as the driving force. Organizations need to focus on the real environment by
avoiding preconceived beliefs or gray areas to maintain the accuracy of the analysis. Companies
should use it as a guide, not as a prescription. However, SWOT analysis itself is like a
brainstorming session, only serving as a reusable tool to obtain a collection of ideas about a
particular problem. For example, it makes sense for companies to brainstorm meetings in each
case to resolve strategic plans or competitive analysis. So, the business then decides whether it
will use SWOT methods or alternative tools to facilitate the conversation. Like most things in
life, it has its own benefits and limitation as well. So now I would like to explain about the
benefits and limitations of using SWOT analysis.

The first advantage of using SWOT analysis that I want to explain is Problem Domain.
SWOT analysis can be applied to organizations, organizational units, individuals or teams. In
addition, analysis can support many project objectives. For example, the SWOT method can be
used to evaluate products or brands, acquisitions or partnerships, or business function
outsourcing. In addition, SWOT analysis may be beneficial in evaluating specific sources of
supply, business processes, product markets, or implementation of specific technologies.
Moreover, the second advantage of using SWOT analysis that I want to explain is Application
Neutrality. SWOT analysis is carried out by specifying goals and brainstorming sessions to
identify internal and external factors that are conducive to achieving the goals. Whether the
analysis supports strategic planning, opportunity analysis, competitive analysis, business
development or product development process, this method remains the same.

Other than that, multi-level analysis is also one of the advantage of using SWOT analysis.
By viewing each of the four elements (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of
SWOT analysis independently or in combination, you can obtain valuable information about the
target opportunity. For example, threats found in the business environment, such as new
government regulations on product design or the introduction of competing products, may

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remind business owners that a proposed investment in a new manufacturing line should be
evaluated more carefully. In addition, if you realize your company's weaknesses, such as the lack
of qualified employees, it may mean that you need to consider outsourcing specific functions. In
turn, opportunities such as providing low-interest loans to start-ups may encourage entrepreneurs
to pursue the development of new products to meet growing customer demand. Conversely,
established advantages, such as extensive experience in an industry experiencing rapid
international growth, may indicate the need to cooperate with foreign companies.

And now is for the limitations of using SWOT analysis. The first limitation of using
SWOT analysis is No Weighting Factors. SWOT analysis yields a list of four advantages,
disadvantages, opportunities and threats. However, the tool does not provide a mechanism to
rank the importance of one factor to another in any list. As a result, it is difficult to determine the
true impact of any one factor on the goal. And the second limitation of using SWOT analysis is
Ambiguity. SWOT analysis creates a one-dimensional model that classifies each problem
attribute as advantages, disadvantages, opportunities, or threats. As a result, each attribute seems
to have only one effect on the analyzed problem. However, one factor may be strengths and
weaknesses. For example, opening a chain store on a street with smooth marketing allows
customers to easily enter the store, which may be reflected in sales growth. However, the cost of
operating high-visibility facilities can make it difficult for products without mass sales to
compete on price. The last limitation of using SWOT analysis is Subjective Analysis. In order to
significantly affect company performance, business decisions must be based on reliable, relevant
and comparable data. However, the collection and analysis of SWOT data requires a subjective
process that reflects the prejudices of individuals collecting data and participating in
brainstorming sessions. In addition, the data entered into SWOT analysis may soon become
obsolete.

In conclusion, SWOT analysis is considered a working model for determining strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Analyze based on information. The core purpose of
conducting a SWOT analysis is to identify external and internal factors that are considered
important factors in achieving the goal. By focusing on their own strength, this can help them
surpass their competitors. The purpose of analyzing external opportunities and challenges helps
the organization recognize the major developments and impacts. It also takes advantage of

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opportunities and helps to develop strategies accordingly. In most cases, SWOT can determine
the source of competitive advantage. Despite its huge benefits, it still has some major limitations.
Since SWOT is a static method, it will gradually lose its effectiveness. It also does not provide
an alternative solution to specific threats.

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 References
- Small Business - Chron.com. 2020. Advantages & Disadvantages Of SWOT
Analysis. [online] Available at: <https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-amp-
disadvantages-swot-analysis-41398.html> [Accessed 19 June 2020].
- Investopedia. 2020. How SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, And Threat)
Analysis Works. [online] Available at:
<https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp> [Accessed 19 June 2020].

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