SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for GTL Infrastructure (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , GTL Infrastructure is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GTL Infrastructure
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that GTL Infrastructure can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the GTL Infrastructure, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of GTL Infrastructure
2. Improving business portfolio management of GTL Infrastructure
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Construction Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of GTL Infrastructure
Strengths of GTL Infrastructure | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of GTL Infrastructure are -
Strong track record of project management in the Construction Services industry
– GTL Infrastructure is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Construction Services
– GTL Infrastructure is one of the leading players in the Construction Services industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Construction Services industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled GTL Infrastructure in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– GTL Infrastructure has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – GTL Infrastructure staying ahead in the Construction Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of GTL Infrastructure comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Construction Services 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.
Innovation driven organization
– GTL Infrastructure is one of the most innovative firm in Construction Services sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of GTL Infrastructure in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. GTL Infrastructure has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps GTL Infrastructure to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the GTL Infrastructure 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.
Learning organization
- GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at GTL Infrastructure emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Construction Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For GTL Infrastructure digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. GTL Infrastructure 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
– GTL Infrastructure is present in almost all the verticals within the Construction Services industry. This has provided GTL Infrastructure 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.
Organizational Resilience of GTL Infrastructure
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing GTL Infrastructure does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– GTL Infrastructure has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. GTL Infrastructure 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.
Weaknesses of GTL Infrastructure | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GTL Infrastructure are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, GTL Infrastructure needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, GTL Infrastructure 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that GTL Infrastructure needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Construction Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at GTL Infrastructure can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as GTL Infrastructure is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As GTL Infrastructure is one of the leading players in the Construction Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Construction Services industry in last five years.
Need for greater diversity
– GTL Infrastructure 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 Construction Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at GTL Infrastructure 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at GTL Infrastructure, in the dynamic environment of Construction Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. GTL Infrastructure has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of GTL Infrastructure products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, GTL Infrastructure needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, GTL Infrastructure is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help GTL Infrastructure to provide better information regarding Construction Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on GTL Infrastructure ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of GTL Infrastructure still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Construction Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though GTL Infrastructure has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Construction Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in India, GTL Infrastructure 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 Construction Services industry.
GTL Infrastructure Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of GTL Infrastructure are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of GTL Infrastructure has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Construction Services industry. This can help GTL Infrastructure to build a more holistic ecosystem for GTL Infrastructure products in the Construction Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, GTL Infrastructure 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.
Buying journey improvements
– GTL Infrastructure can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Construction Services 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– GTL Infrastructure 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Construction Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for GTL Infrastructure in the Construction Services industry. Now GTL Infrastructure 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, GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for GTL Infrastructure in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Construction Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– GTL Infrastructure has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Construction Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled GTL Infrastructure to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure to increase its market reach. GTL Infrastructure 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for GTL Infrastructure 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, GTL Infrastructure can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that GTL Infrastructure operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Construction Services 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. GTL Infrastructure can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats GTL Infrastructure External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of GTL Infrastructure are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, GTL Infrastructure may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Construction Services sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for GTL Infrastructure in Construction Services industry. The Construction Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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 GTL Infrastructure.
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 GTL Infrastructure business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on GTL Infrastructure 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 Construction Services industry and other sectors.
Regulatory challenges
– GTL Infrastructure 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 Construction Services industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of GTL Infrastructure
– 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 GTL Infrastructure.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure prominent markets.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– GTL Infrastructure has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Construction Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, GTL Infrastructure needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Construction Services sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– GTL Infrastructure 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.
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 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. GTL Infrastructure needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Construction Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– GTL Infrastructure 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. GTL Infrastructure can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Construction Services industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GTL Infrastructure Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure 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 GTL Infrastructure needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
