Gujarat Pipavav Port (GPPL) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Gujarat Pipavav Port (India)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Gujarat Pipavav Port is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gujarat Pipavav Port

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Gujarat Pipavav Port can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gujarat Pipavav Port, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Gujarat Pipavav Port can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Gujarat Pipavav Port
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gujarat Pipavav Port
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Misc. Transportation sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Gujarat Pipavav Port

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Strengths of Gujarat Pipavav Port | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Gujarat Pipavav Port are -

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Transportation industry

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gujarat Pipavav Port to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Transportation industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gujarat Pipavav Port to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Misc. Transportation industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gujarat Pipavav Port digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Gujarat Pipavav Port is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Transportation industry. This has provided Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Transportation industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Gujarat Pipavav Port have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Gujarat Pipavav Port in Misc. Transportation industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Innovation driven organization

– Gujarat Pipavav Port is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Transportation sector.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Gujarat Pipavav Port staying ahead in the Misc. Transportation industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High brand equity

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gujarat Pipavav Port to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Gujarat Pipavav Port does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Ability to lead change in Misc. Transportation

– Gujarat Pipavav Port is one of the leading players in the Misc. Transportation industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Misc. Transportation industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Gujarat Pipavav Port in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

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Weaknesses of Gujarat Pipavav Port | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Gujarat Pipavav Port are -

Need for greater diversity

– Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Skills based hiring in Misc. Transportation industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gujarat Pipavav Port has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Lack of clear differentiation of Gujarat Pipavav Port products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Gujarat Pipavav Port needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Misc. Transportation industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in India, Gujarat Pipavav Port is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Misc. Transportation industry.

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 Gujarat Pipavav Port supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Gujarat Pipavav Port is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gujarat Pipavav Port vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High dependence on Gujarat Pipavav Port ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Gujarat Pipavav Port still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Misc. Transportation industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Gujarat Pipavav Port has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of India, Gujarat Pipavav Port needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Employees’ less understanding of Gujarat Pipavav Port strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Misc. Transportation industry, Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Gujarat Pipavav Port has some of the most successful models in the Misc. Transportation industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Gujarat Pipavav Port should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Gujarat Pipavav Port is just above the Misc. Transportation 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.

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Gujarat Pipavav Port Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Gujarat Pipavav Port are -

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Transportation sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Gujarat Pipavav Port to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gujarat Pipavav Port to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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. Gujarat Pipavav Port can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Developing new processes and practices

– Gujarat Pipavav Port can develop new processes and procedures in Misc. Transportation 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Gujarat Pipavav Port can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Misc. Transportation industry.

Manufacturing automation

– Gujarat Pipavav Port can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Transportation sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Misc. Transportation industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Gujarat Pipavav Port 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. Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Transportation industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Gujarat Pipavav Port in the Misc. Transportation industry. Now Gujarat Pipavav Port can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gujarat Pipavav Port in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Transportation industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Transportation industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Gujarat Pipavav Port can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gujarat Pipavav Port can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gujarat Pipavav Port operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Transportation sector.

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Threats Gujarat Pipavav Port External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Gujarat Pipavav Port are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Misc. Transportation 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Transportation industry are lowering. It can presents Gujarat Pipavav Port with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Transportation sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Misc. Transportation industry.

Environmental challenges

– Gujarat Pipavav Port 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. Gujarat Pipavav Port can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Transportation industry.

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. Gujarat Pipavav Port needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Transportation industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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. Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Misc. Transportation industry regulations.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Misc. Transportation industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Gujarat Pipavav Port can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Gujarat Pipavav Port has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Transportation industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gujarat Pipavav Port needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Transportation 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port prominent markets.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Gujarat Pipavav Port 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Gujarat Pipavav Port may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Transportation sector.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gujarat Pipavav Port Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port 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 Gujarat Pipavav Port needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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