Hopewell Holding Limited

Hopewell Holdings Ltd. -- a strategic plan for this real estate organization The Nature of Hopewell's Holdings Hopewell Holdings Limited is an infrastructure building and property organization founded by the Asian entrepreneur Sir Gordon Wu in 1972. Currently its largest contracts are to build toll roads and bridges in Mainland China as well as its other extensive real estate holdings, particularly in Hong Kong.

Although it mainly focuses on its heavy construction, it also has interests in the leisure industry, in the form of hotels, including the China and the Panda Hotel in Hong Kong. It also has several commercial property interests throughout all of Asia. According to Hoover's Online, the company's 2003 annual growth was 81.8%. (Hoover's, 2003) The principal activity of Hopewell Holding is investment holding.

Its subsidiaries are active in the field of investment in infrastructure projects, property letting, property agency and management, hotel operations and management, restaurant operation and food catering, construction and project management. (Nation master, 2003) Hopewell was one of the first foreign companies to invest in infrastructure projects in China. It has long been considered "a pioneer of infrastructure developments in Asia, including the successful construction of five major toll roads or superhighways on the Chinese mainland.

The company has thus pursued a policy of aggressive regional expansionism and diversification that it may now need to question, given the current health scares that have plagued the region (Nation master, 2003). Update on Hopewell -- SARS and the Asian Bird Flu One interesting feature of note is that Hopewell's primary businesses are located in Guangdong, the province of People's Republic of China and Hong Kong that was most shaken by the recent SARS epidemic.

It remains uncertain if and how this epidemic will impact Hopewell Holdings Limited over the long-term. This is not simply because of one of the company's location. Tourism and the luxury hotel industry in Hong Kong has been hard hit by such public health scares as SARS and the Asian bird flu. The impact to cities such as Toronto show how these health crises have affected worldwide perceptions of the Asian region and areas associated with the region as safe places to travel, tour, and to do business with.

In terms of its leadership, the company has undergone numerous shifts in recent years. In 2002 the charismatic Wu retired as the managing director of Hopewell Holdings but remained as the chairman of the company's board.

Wu's dominance of the company has meant that the nature of the company has had to shift from a focus on its leader's personality and personal guidance, to more of a reliance upon other managers, particularly as its holdings and regional scope grows in nature Hopewell's business level strategy and current corporate level strategy Hopewell began as a company primarily concerned with infrastructure and commercial property, but it is also known for its desired expansion into the leisure industry.

The organization's current business level strategy is to consolidate its dominance of the Asian region in infrastructure, while establishing a greater industry presence in the expanding market of Mainland China. Also critical to Hopewell is its interests in luxury properties, as business travel to Hong Kong increases. Thus diversification and expansion are key to its business level strategy, combined, on a level of corporate leadership, with Wu's desire to allocate more control to local leadership, after stepping down as the company's most visible guiding hand.

External Analysis: identify and describe two examples of major opportunities and threats for the organization Hong Kong's luxury and leisure industry, as well as its business travel has been severely impacted by SARS, as well as the outbreak of bird flu. This has caused negative results for the travel and leisure industry as well as for the business oriented hotel industries of Hopewell. Hopewell's presence in Guangdong places it squarely in the face of fears as well as hopes for the region's future.

Even Hopewell's infrastructure expansion into different nations of Asia has been shaky at times. Its forays into Bangkok were a notable failure, particularly the Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS) project. (Nation master, 2003) But such risky undertakings have been key to Hopewell in the past. A 2003 press release for the organization noted that it was such risk-taking that "prompted Sir Gordon to build the 300 km highway network in the Pearl River Delta in 1978, when China started its economic reforms.

He was convinced that the success of China's economic reforms would hinge on adequate communications, power supply and transportation. His proposal met with considerable skepticism at the time, however. Engineers derided the idea, arguing that if the Chinese people could not afford bicycles, what use would they have for highways? Sir Gordon has been more than vindicated.

A recent report by former Premier Zhu Rongji noted that China now has 25,000 km of highway, and more is in the pipeline." (Press Release, 2003) The expanding Chinese population and capitalist sphere of its economy is a major opportunity for Hopewell, as are other nations in the region that continue to develop and expand in their demand for infrastructure improvements. However, the company's change of leadership, combined with regional health and political problems counterbalance such potential areas of expansion in infrastructure and tourism, particularly on the Chinese mainland.

Internal Analysis: identify and describe two examples of major strengths and weaknesses for the organization Within the organization, the impact of how the public health threats that could negatively impact workers for the organization, and the tourist, business, and investment fears, encompassing SARS and the Asian bird flu have yet to be fully taken into consideration in the company's overall strategy. Wu's now more shadowy, leadership is both a strength and a weakness for the organization.

Before SARS, Lu stated Hong Kong should capitalize on China' economic growth and the trading opportunities that abound in the next twenty years, but now Wu is no longer fully at the helm. Unfortunately, no one at the company has stepped in to assume his level of vision and control. Recently, Wu stated that "traditionally people in China shop in Shanghai. However, Hong Kong should position itself as a huge duty-free market for trading, tourism, financial and logistics services.

With its deep-water port and internationally acclaimed airport, Hong Kong provides the perfect infrastructure for such a development .. The business potential is tremendous." But such a.