KDDL (KDDL) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for KDDL (India)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , KDDL is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of KDDL

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that KDDL can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the KDDL, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which KDDL 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 KDDL can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of KDDL
2. Improving business portfolio management of KDDL
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Jewelry & Silverware sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of KDDL

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Strengths of KDDL | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of KDDL are -

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the KDDL 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– KDDL is one of the leading players in the Jewelry & Silverware 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.

High brand equity

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

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of KDDL comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Jewelry & Silverware 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of KDDL in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. KDDL has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps KDDL to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Training and development

– KDDL has one of the best training and development program in Consumer Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Organizational Resilience of KDDL

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

Ability to lead change in Jewelry & Silverware

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

Diverse revenue streams

– KDDL is present in almost all the verticals within the Jewelry & Silverware industry. This has provided KDDL 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.

Strong track record of project management in the Jewelry & Silverware industry

– KDDL is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Jewelry & Silverware industry

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

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Weaknesses of KDDL | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of KDDL are -

High dependence on KDDL ‘s star products

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

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, KDDL 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

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

High cash cycle compare to competitors

KDDL has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Jewelry & Silverware industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of KDDL, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Jewelry & Silverware industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at KDDL, in the dynamic environment of Jewelry & Silverware industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. KDDL has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, KDDL has high operating costs in the Jewelry & Silverware industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract KDDL lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of KDDL is just above the Jewelry & Silverware 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.

Need for greater diversity

– KDDL 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of KDDL products

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

Skills based hiring in Jewelry & Silverware industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at KDDL 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.

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KDDL Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of KDDL are -

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. KDDL can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Jewelry & Silverware industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. KDDL 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. KDDL 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– KDDL can develop new processes and procedures in Jewelry & Silverware 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, KDDL can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that KDDL operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Jewelry & Silverware sector.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects KDDL can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Jewelry & Silverware industry

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

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, KDDL 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, KDDL 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 KDDL to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of KDDL has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Jewelry & Silverware industry. This can help KDDL to build a more holistic ecosystem for KDDL products in the Jewelry & Silverware industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help KDDL to increase its market reach. KDDL 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, KDDL is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. KDDL can utilize new technology in the field of Jewelry & Silverware industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– KDDL can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Jewelry & Silverware 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.

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Threats KDDL External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of KDDL are -

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that KDDL is facing in Jewelry & Silverware sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 KDDL.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, KDDL 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 KDDL prominent markets.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– KDDL 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on KDDL 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry and other sectors.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for KDDL in Jewelry & Silverware industry. The Jewelry & Silverware 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 KDDL

– 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 KDDL.

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. KDDL needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Jewelry & Silverware industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– KDDL 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry.

Regulatory challenges

– KDDL 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry regulations.

Learning curve for new practices

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

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. KDDL 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of KDDL Template, Example

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

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