SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore
Strengths of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in India. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in India. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore staying ahead in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Analytics focus
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry. The technology infrastructure of India 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is present in almost all the verticals within the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This has provided Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Weaknesses of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Chemical Manufacturing 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, but Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to focus more on services in the Chemical Manufacturing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is just above the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in India, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Chemical Manufacturing 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Chemical Manufacturing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore, in the dynamic environment of Chemical Manufacturing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore are -
Buying journey improvements
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can develop new processes and procedures in Chemical Manufacturing 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.
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. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemical Manufacturing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Chemical Manufacturing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore to increase its market reach. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Threats Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
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. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore in Chemical Manufacturing industry. The Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Increasing wage structure of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore
– 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemical Manufacturing industry are lowering. It can presents Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemical Manufacturing sector.
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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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.
Environmental challenges
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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. Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore 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 Fertilisers Chemicals Travancore needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.