Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Apex Ace Holding is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Apex Ace Holding can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Apex Ace Holding, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Apex Ace Holding
2. Improving business portfolio management of Apex Ace Holding
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Computer Storage Devices sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Apex Ace Holding
Strengths of Apex Ace Holding | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Apex Ace Holding are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Apex Ace Holding in Computer Storage Devices industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Apex Ace Holding 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 Computer Storage Devices industry. The technology infrastructure of Hong Kong is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Apex Ace Holding has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Apex Ace Holding 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.
Organizational Resilience of Apex Ace Holding
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Apex Ace Holding does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Apex Ace Holding has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Apex Ace Holding staying ahead in the Computer Storage Devices industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Apex Ace Holding comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Computer Storage Devices 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Apex Ace Holding is one of the leading players in the Computer Storage Devices industry in Hong Kong. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Hong Kong. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Computer Storage Devices
– Apex Ace Holding is one of the leading players in the Computer Storage Devices industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Computer Storage Devices industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Apex Ace Holding in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Apex Ace Holding emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Apex Ace Holding is one of the most innovative firm in Computer Storage Devices sector.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Apex Ace Holding 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.
High brand equity
– Apex Ace Holding has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Apex Ace Holding to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Apex Ace Holding | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Apex Ace Holding are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Apex Ace Holding has high operating costs in the Computer Storage Devices industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Apex Ace Holding lucrative 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 Apex Ace Holding supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Apex Ace Holding is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Apex Ace Holding vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Apex Ace Holding 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Apex Ace Holding needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Computer Storage Devices industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Apex Ace Holding can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Apex Ace Holding is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Apex Ace Holding is one of the leading players in the Computer Storage Devices industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Computer Storage Devices industry in last five years.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Computer Storage Devices industry, Apex Ace Holding 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Apex Ace Holding products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Apex Ace Holding needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Apex Ace Holding is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Computer Storage Devices industry, but Apex Ace Holding needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Apex Ace Holding to focus more on services in the Computer Storage Devices industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Apex Ace Holding 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 Computer Storage Devices industry using digital technology.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Apex Ace Holding has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Computer Storage Devices industry over the last five years. Apex Ace Holding 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, Apex Ace Holding needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Apex Ace Holding Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Apex Ace Holding are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Apex Ace Holding can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Computer Storage Devices industry.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Apex Ace Holding 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.
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 Apex Ace Holding 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Apex Ace Holding has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Computer Storage Devices sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Apex Ace Holding to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Apex Ace Holding to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Computer Storage Devices industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Apex Ace Holding in the Computer Storage Devices industry. Now Apex Ace Holding can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Apex Ace Holding 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
– Apex Ace Holding can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Computer Storage Devices industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
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. Apex Ace Holding can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Apex Ace Holding 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Computer Storage Devices industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Apex Ace Holding 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. Apex Ace Holding 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Apex Ace Holding can develop new processes and procedures in Computer Storage Devices industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Apex Ace Holding to increase its market reach. Apex Ace Holding 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.
Threats Apex Ace Holding External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Apex Ace Holding are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Computer Storage Devices industry are lowering. It can presents Apex Ace Holding with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Computer Storage Devices sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Computer Storage Devices industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Apex Ace Holding can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Apex Ace Holding 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Apex Ace Holding high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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. Apex Ace Holding needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Storage Devices industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Apex Ace Holding.
Environmental challenges
– Apex Ace Holding 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. Apex Ace Holding can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Computer Storage Devices industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Apex Ace Holding may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Computer Storage Devices sector.
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 Apex Ace Holding in the Computer Storage Devices sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Apex Ace Holding is facing in Computer Storage Devices sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Apex Ace Holding has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Storage Devices industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Apex Ace Holding needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer Storage Devices sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Apex Ace Holding Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding 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 Apex Ace Holding needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
