Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles
Anhui LIGOO New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (LIGOO) had survived and made developments in the field of battery management systems (BMS) in the changing environment of new energy vehicles (NEVs), amid policy adjustment in China. Established in 2010, LIGOO had achieved a respectable market share and acquired a reputation as possessing excellent BMS technology in the electric vehicle industry. However, due to a cold market in the industry and weak reception for these vehicles, LIGOO's performance began to decline. The company made its first transformation, applying BMS technology to the communications and coal mining industries, enabling LIGOO's survival and ability to improve BMS technology when many other BMS technology companies were going bankrupt. In 2013 and 2014, the Chinese government began to enhance its support for the NEV industry, prompting LIGOO's chief executive officer to consider whether LIGOO should continue its existing business in the communications and coal mining industries or rejoin the NEV industry. Jin Hong and Ping Deng and Zheng Zhao are affiliated with University of Science and Technology of China. Hao Lu is affiliated with Room 604, School of Management. Xiumei Guo is affiliated with Curtin University.
Authors :: Jin Hong, Ping Deng, Zheng Zhao, Hao Lu
Swot Analysis of "Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles" written by Jin Hong, Ping Deng, Zheng Zhao, Hao Lu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ligoo Bms facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices,
increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ligoo Bms, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ligoo Bms 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 Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ligoo Bms
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ligoo Bms
Strengths Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ligoo Bms in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ligoo Bms has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Ligoo Bms is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Ligoo Bms is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ligoo Bms in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ligoo Bms has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ligoo Bms 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ligoo Bms is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ligoo Bms 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ligoo Bms
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ligoo Bms does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ligoo Bms is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Ligoo Bms in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Ligoo Bms is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ligoo Bms to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ligoo Bms to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Ligoo Bms 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 industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Jin Hong, Ping Deng, Zheng Zhao, Hao Lu can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ligoo Bms in the sector have low bargaining power. Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ligoo Bms to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ligoo Bms 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, is just above the industry average. Ligoo Bms 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ligoo Bms products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ligoo Bms needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, in the dynamic environment Ligoo Bms has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ligoo Bms has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, it seems that the employees of Ligoo Bms 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ligoo Bms is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ligoo Bms needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ligoo Bms to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ligoo Bms has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ligoo Bms is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Ligoo Bms supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ligoo Bms vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ligoo Bms has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Ligoo Bms even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ligoo Bms can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Ligoo Bms can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles suggest that firm 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ligoo Bms 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, as suggested in case study, Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ligoo Bms 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ligoo Bms 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 Ligoo Bms to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Ligoo Bms 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ligoo Bms is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ligoo Bms can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Ligoo Bms can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ligoo Bms 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ligoo Bms to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
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. Ligoo Bms can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ligoo Bms has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ligoo Bms to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles case study. Ligoo Bms can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Ligoo Bms can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ligoo Bms operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ligoo Bms is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Ligoo Bms business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ligoo Bms 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
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. Ligoo Bms needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Ligoo Bms.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles, Ligoo Bms may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ligoo Bms can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Ligoo Bms
– 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 Ligoo Bms.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ligoo Bms 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 field.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Ligoo Bms will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Environmental challenges
– Ligoo Bms 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. Ligoo Bms can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles 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 the case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles 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 the Harvard case study Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles 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 Anhui LIGOO: A Battery Management System for New Energy Vehicles is 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 Ligoo Bms needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.