SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Equinaire Chemtech Ltd (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Equinaire Chemtech Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd
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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd
Strengths of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Chemical Manufacturing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Analytics focus
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Ability to lead change in Chemical Manufacturing
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Equinaire Chemtech Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Equinaire Chemtech Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Equinaire Chemtech Ltd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has high operating costs in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Equinaire Chemtech Ltd lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Equinaire Chemtech Ltd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Chemical Manufacturing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry using digital technology.
High dependence on Equinaire Chemtech Ltd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in last five years.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has some of the most successful models in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Equinaire Chemtech Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Chemical Manufacturing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Equinaire Chemtech Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to increase its market reach. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Equinaire Chemtech Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
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. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Chemical Manufacturing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Equinaire Chemtech Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd prominent markets.
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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd in the Chemical Manufacturing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Chemical Manufacturing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
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. Equinaire Chemtech Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Equinaire Chemtech Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Equinaire Chemtech Ltd is facing in Chemical Manufacturing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd
– 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemical Manufacturing industry are lowering. It can presents Equinaire Chemtech Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Equinaire Chemtech Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd 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 Equinaire Chemtech Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.