United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co (UNIL) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Food Processing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co
2. Improving business portfolio management of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Food Processing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co
Strengths of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co are -
Ability to lead change in Food Processing
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Food Processing industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management in the Food Processing industry
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Food Processing 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co in Food Processing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Food Processing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Innovation driven organization
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is one of the most innovative firm in Food Processing sector.
Analytics focus
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 Food Processing 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
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has high operating costs in the Food Processing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is just above the Food Processing 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co, in the dynamic environment of Food Processing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Food Processing industry, but United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co to focus more on services in the Food Processing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Food Processing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Food Processing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Food Processing industry, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Food Processing 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, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Food Processing industry over the last five years. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co are -
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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Food Processing sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Food Processing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Food Processing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co in the Food Processing industry. Now United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Food Processing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Food Processing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Food Processing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 Food Processing industry.
Manufacturing automation
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Food Processing 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.
Threats United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co are -
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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Increasing wage structure of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co
– 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Food Processing sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Food Processing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Food Processing 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.
Environmental challenges
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Food Processing industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co in Food Processing industry. The Food Processing 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 Food Processing industry.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Food Processing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 Food Processing industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co 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 United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.