Blue Dart Express (BLDT) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Air Courier
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Blue Dart Express (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Blue Dart Express is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Blue Dart Express
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Blue Dart Express can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Blue Dart Express, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Blue Dart Express
2. Improving business portfolio management of Blue Dart Express
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Air Courier sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Blue Dart Express
Strengths of Blue Dart Express | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Blue Dart Express are -
Digital Transformation in Air Courier industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Blue Dart Express digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Blue Dart Express 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Blue Dart Express is present in almost all the verticals within the Air Courier industry. This has provided Blue Dart Express 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Blue Dart Express has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Blue Dart Express 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Blue Dart Express are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Blue Dart Express is one of the most innovative firm in Air Courier sector.
Organizational Resilience of Blue Dart Express
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Blue Dart Express does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Blue Dart Express in Air Courier industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management in the Air Courier industry
– Blue Dart Express 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 brand equity
– Blue Dart Express has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Blue Dart Express to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Blue Dart Express has one of the best training and development program in Transportation 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Blue Dart Express has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Air Courier industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Blue Dart Express have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Air Courier industry
– Blue Dart Express has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Blue Dart Express to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Air Courier industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Blue Dart Express to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Blue Dart Express | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Blue Dart Express are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Blue Dart Express is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Air Courier industry, but Blue Dart Express needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Blue Dart Express to focus more on services in the Air Courier industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Blue Dart Express supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Blue Dart Express is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Blue Dart Express vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Blue Dart Express needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Blue Dart Express 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 Air Courier industry using digital technology.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Blue Dart Express 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Blue Dart Express has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Air Courier industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of Blue Dart Express products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Blue Dart Express needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Blue Dart Express is just above the Air Courier 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 Blue Dart Express strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Blue Dart Express 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Air Courier industry, Blue Dart Express 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Blue Dart Express is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Blue Dart Express to provide better information regarding Air Courier products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Blue Dart Express Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Blue Dart Express are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Blue Dart Express can develop new processes and procedures in Air Courier 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Blue Dart Express 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Blue Dart Express 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 Air Courier industry.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Air Courier industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Blue Dart Express can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Blue Dart Express can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Air Courier industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Blue Dart Express in the Air Courier industry. Now Blue Dart Express can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Blue Dart Express can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Air Courier 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Blue Dart Express has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Air Courier industry. This can help Blue Dart Express to build a more holistic ecosystem for Blue Dart Express products in the Air Courier industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Blue Dart Express in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Air Courier industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Blue Dart Express is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Blue Dart Express can utilize new technology in the field of Air Courier industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Blue Dart Express 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Blue Dart Express 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.
Threats Blue Dart Express External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Blue Dart Express are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Blue Dart Express 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Blue Dart Express is facing in Air Courier sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Blue Dart Express
– 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 Blue Dart Express.
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. Blue Dart Express 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Blue Dart Express 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 Air Courier industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Air Courier industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Blue Dart Express can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Air Courier industry are lowering. It can presents Blue Dart Express with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Air Courier sector.
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 Blue Dart Express.
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 Blue Dart Express in the Air Courier sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Blue Dart Express demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Air Courier industry and other sectors.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express prominent markets.
Environmental challenges
– Blue Dart Express 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. Blue Dart Express can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Air Courier industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Blue Dart Express Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express 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 Blue Dart Express needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.