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...
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…
