SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Speciality Restaurants Ltd (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Speciality Restaurants Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Speciality Restaurants Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Speciality Restaurants Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Speciality Restaurants Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Speciality Restaurants 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 Speciality Restaurants Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Speciality Restaurants Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Speciality Restaurants Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Restaurants sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Speciality Restaurants Ltd
Strengths of Speciality Restaurants Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Speciality Restaurants Ltd are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Speciality Restaurants 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.
Digital Transformation in Restaurants industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Speciality Restaurants Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Speciality Restaurants 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.
Organizational Resilience of Speciality Restaurants Ltd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Speciality Restaurants Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Speciality Restaurants Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management in the Restaurants industry
– Speciality Restaurants 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Speciality Restaurants Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Restaurants 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.
Analytics focus
– Speciality Restaurants 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 Restaurants 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Restaurants sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd is one of the leading players in the Restaurants 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Restaurants industry. This has provided Speciality Restaurants Ltd 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Speciality Restaurants 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Restaurants industry
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Speciality Restaurants Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Restaurants industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Speciality Restaurants Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Speciality Restaurants Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Speciality Restaurants Ltd are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Speciality Restaurants 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Speciality Restaurants Ltd has high operating costs in the Restaurants industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Speciality Restaurants Ltd lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Speciality Restaurants Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Speciality Restaurants Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Speciality Restaurants Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Restaurants industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Speciality Restaurants 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 Restaurants industry over the last five years. Speciality Restaurants 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.
Skills based hiring in Restaurants industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Speciality Restaurants 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Restaurants industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in India, Speciality Restaurants Ltd 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 Restaurants industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Restaurants industry, Speciality Restaurants 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Speciality Restaurants Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Restaurants industry, but Speciality Restaurants Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Speciality Restaurants Ltd to focus more on services in the Restaurants industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Speciality Restaurants Ltd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Restaurants industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Speciality Restaurants Ltd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Speciality Restaurants Ltd is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Speciality Restaurants Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Speciality Restaurants Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Speciality Restaurants Ltd are -
Buying journey improvements
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Restaurants 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Speciality Restaurants 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.
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. Speciality Restaurants Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Speciality Restaurants Ltd 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 Speciality Restaurants Ltd to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Speciality Restaurants Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Restaurants industry. This can help Speciality Restaurants Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Speciality Restaurants Ltd products in the Restaurants industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Speciality Restaurants Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Speciality Restaurants Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Restaurants industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Speciality Restaurants Ltd to increase its market reach. Speciality Restaurants 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Speciality Restaurants 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 Restaurants industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Speciality Restaurants Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Speciality Restaurants Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Speciality Restaurants 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Speciality Restaurants Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Restaurants 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Speciality Restaurants Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Speciality Restaurants Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Restaurants sector.
Threats Speciality Restaurants Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Speciality Restaurants Ltd are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Speciality Restaurants 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 Restaurants industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Speciality Restaurants Ltd is facing in Restaurants sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Speciality Restaurants 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 Restaurants sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Restaurants industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Speciality Restaurants Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Speciality Restaurants 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.
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 Speciality Restaurants Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Speciality Restaurants 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 Speciality Restaurants Ltd.
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 Speciality Restaurants Ltd in the Restaurants sector and impact the bottomline 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. Speciality Restaurants Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Restaurants industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Speciality Restaurants Ltd 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Speciality Restaurants 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 Restaurants industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Speciality Restaurants Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Speciality Restaurants 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 Speciality Restaurants 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 Speciality Restaurants 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 Speciality Restaurants 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 Speciality Restaurants Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.