SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Ruby Mills Ltd (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Ruby Mills Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Ruby Mills Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ruby Mills Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ruby Mills 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 Ruby Mills Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Ruby Mills Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ruby Mills Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Textiles - Non Apparel sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ruby Mills Ltd
Strengths of Ruby Mills Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ruby Mills Ltd are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Ruby Mills Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Digital Transformation in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ruby Mills Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ruby Mills 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ruby Mills 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ruby Mills Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Textiles - Non Apparel sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ruby Mills Ltd is one of the leading players in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ruby Mills Ltd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Ruby Mills Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Ruby Mills Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ruby Mills Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ruby Mills Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Textiles - Non Apparel industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Ruby Mills Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– Ruby Mills 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ruby Mills Ltd in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Ruby Mills Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ruby Mills Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– Ruby Mills Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ruby Mills Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ruby Mills Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ruby Mills Ltd has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses of Ruby Mills Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ruby Mills Ltd are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ruby Mills Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, but Ruby Mills Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ruby Mills Ltd to focus more on services in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Ruby Mills Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Skills based hiring in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ruby Mills 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ruby Mills Ltd is one of the leading players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry in last five years.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ruby Mills Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Ruby Mills Ltd to provide better information regarding Textiles - Non Apparel products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, Ruby Mills Ltd needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Need for greater diversity
– Ruby Mills 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ruby Mills Ltd has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry over the last five years. Ruby Mills Ltd even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ruby Mills Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ruby Mills Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ruby Mills Ltd has some of the most successful models in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Ruby Mills Ltd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ruby Mills 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry using digital technology.
Ruby Mills Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Ruby Mills Ltd 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. Ruby Mills Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ruby Mills Ltd 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ruby Mills 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ruby Mills Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ruby Mills Ltd in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. Now Ruby Mills Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ruby Mills 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
Manufacturing automation
– Ruby Mills Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Textiles - Non Apparel 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
– Ruby Mills 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ruby Mills Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ruby Mills Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
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 Ruby Mills Ltd 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ruby Mills 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 Ruby Mills Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ruby Mills Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ruby Mills Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Textiles - Non Apparel industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Ruby Mills Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Ruby Mills Ltd are -
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ruby Mills Ltd 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Ruby Mills 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 Textiles - Non Apparel sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Textiles - Non Apparel industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ruby Mills Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Ruby Mills Ltd 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. Ruby Mills Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
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 Ruby Mills Ltd in the Textiles - Non Apparel sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ruby Mills Ltd is facing in Textiles - Non Apparel 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 Ruby Mills Ltd.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ruby Mills 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.
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.
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 Ruby Mills Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ruby Mills Ltd 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ruby Mills Ltd in Textiles - Non Apparel industry. The Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ruby Mills Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Ruby Mills 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 Ruby Mills 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 Ruby Mills 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 Ruby Mills 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 Ruby Mills Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.