Greatwalle (8315) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Security Systems & Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Greatwalle (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Greatwalle is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Greatwalle can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greatwalle, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Greatwalle
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greatwalle
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Security Systems & Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Greatwalle
Strengths of Greatwalle | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Greatwalle are -
Digital Transformation in Security Systems & Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Greatwalle digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Greatwalle has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Greatwalle has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Greatwalle 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.
Training and development
– Greatwalle has one of the best training and development program in Services industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Greatwalle
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Greatwalle does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Greatwalle is one of the most innovative firm in Security Systems & Services sector.
Ability to lead change in Security Systems & Services
– Greatwalle is one of the leading players in the Security Systems & Services industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Security Systems & Services industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Greatwalle in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Greatwalle has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Greatwalle to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Greatwalle emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Greatwalle is present in almost all the verticals within the Security Systems & Services industry. This has provided Greatwalle a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Security Systems & Services industry
– Greatwalle has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Greatwalle to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Security Systems & Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Greatwalle to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Greatwalle has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Security Systems & Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Greatwalle have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Security Systems & Services industry
– Greatwalle is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses of Greatwalle | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Greatwalle are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Greatwalle has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Greatwalle has high operating costs in the Security Systems & Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Greatwalle lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Greatwalle is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Greatwalle to provide better information regarding Security Systems & Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Security Systems & Services industry, Greatwalle 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Greatwalle has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Security Systems & Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Greatwalle has some of the most successful models in the Security Systems & Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Greatwalle should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Greatwalle, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Security Systems & Services industry. 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Greatwalle is just above the Security Systems & Services industry average. It 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Greatwalle strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Greatwalle 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, Greatwalle needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on Greatwalle ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Greatwalle still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Security Systems & Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Greatwalle has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Greatwalle Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Greatwalle are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Greatwalle 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
– Greatwalle has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Security Systems & Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Greatwalle to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Greatwalle to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Greatwalle can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Greatwalle operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Security Systems & Services sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Greatwalle has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Security Systems & Services industry. This can help Greatwalle to build a more holistic ecosystem for Greatwalle products in the Security Systems & Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Greatwalle to increase its market reach. Greatwalle 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Greatwalle 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 Security Systems & Services industry.
Developing new processes and practices
– Greatwalle can develop new processes and procedures in Security Systems & Services 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Greatwalle 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Greatwalle in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Security Systems & Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Security Systems & Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Greatwalle in the Security Systems & Services industry. Now Greatwalle can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Greatwalle 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Greatwalle 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.
Threats Greatwalle External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Greatwalle are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Greatwalle in Security Systems & Services industry. The Security Systems & Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Greatwalle is facing in Security Systems & Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Greatwalle 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.
Increasing wage structure of Greatwalle
– 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 Greatwalle.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Security Systems & Services industry are lowering. It can presents Greatwalle with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Security Systems & Services sector.
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. Greatwalle 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 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. Greatwalle needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Security Systems & Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Greatwalle has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Security Systems & Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Greatwalle needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Security Systems & Services 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Greatwalle 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 Security Systems & Services industry.
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 Greatwalle.
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 Greatwalle in the Security Systems & Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Greatwalle Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle 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 Greatwalle needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.