Usha Martin Education Solutions (USME) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Schools
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Usha Martin Education Solutions (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Usha Martin Education Solutions is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
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 Usha Martin Education Solutions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Usha Martin Education Solutions can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Usha Martin Education Solutions, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Usha Martin Education Solutions
2. Improving business portfolio management of Usha Martin Education Solutions
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Schools sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Usha Martin Education Solutions
Strengths of Usha Martin Education Solutions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Usha Martin Education Solutions are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Schools industry
– Usha Martin Education Solutions has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Usha Martin Education Solutions to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Schools industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Usha Martin Education Solutions to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Usha Martin Education Solutions is one of the most innovative firm in Schools sector.
Training and development
– Usha Martin Education Solutions has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Schools industry
– Usha Martin Education Solutions is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Usha Martin Education Solutions emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Usha Martin Education Solutions
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Usha Martin Education Solutions does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Usha Martin Education Solutions in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Usha Martin Education Solutions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Usha Martin Education Solutions to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Usha Martin Education Solutions has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Usha Martin Education Solutions is present in almost all the verticals within the Schools industry. This has provided Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Ability to lead change in Schools
– Usha Martin Education Solutions is one of the leading players in the Schools industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Schools industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Usha Martin Education Solutions in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Usha Martin Education Solutions is one of the leading players in the Schools 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.
Analytics focus
– Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Schools 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.
Weaknesses of Usha Martin Education Solutions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Usha Martin Education Solutions are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Usha Martin Education Solutions has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Schools industry over the last five years. Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Schools industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in India, Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Schools industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Schools industry, Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Usha Martin Education Solutions has some of the most successful models in the Schools industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Usha Martin Education Solutions should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Usha Martin Education Solutions needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Usha Martin Education Solutions is just above the Schools 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Usha Martin Education Solutions needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Schools industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Usha Martin Education Solutions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Usha Martin Education Solutions is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on Usha Martin Education Solutions ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Usha Martin Education Solutions still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Schools industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Usha Martin Education Solutions has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Usha Martin Education Solutions, in the dynamic environment of Schools industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Usha Martin Education Solutions has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Usha Martin Education Solutions Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Usha Martin Education Solutions 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. Usha Martin Education Solutions can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Schools industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Usha Martin Education Solutions in the Schools industry. Now Usha Martin Education Solutions can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Usha Martin Education Solutions has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Schools sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Usha Martin Education Solutions to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Usha Martin Education Solutions to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Usha Martin Education Solutions can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Usha Martin Education Solutions operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Schools sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Usha Martin Education Solutions is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Usha Martin Education Solutions can utilize new technology in the field of Schools industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Usha Martin Education Solutions has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Schools industry. This can help Usha Martin Education Solutions to build a more holistic ecosystem for Usha Martin Education Solutions products in the Schools 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions to increase its market reach. Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Usha Martin Education Solutions can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Usha Martin Education Solutions in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Schools industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Usha Martin Education Solutions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Usha Martin Education Solutions are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Schools industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions prominent markets.
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. Usha Martin Education Solutions needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Schools industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Usha Martin Education Solutions in the Schools sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Usha Martin Education Solutions 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. Usha Martin Education Solutions can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Schools industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Usha Martin Education Solutions in Schools industry. The Schools 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.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Schools industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Usha Martin Education Solutions is facing in Schools sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Usha Martin Education Solutions has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Schools industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Usha Martin Education Solutions needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Schools 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.
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. Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Usha Martin Education Solutions 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Usha Martin Education Solutions Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions 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 Usha Martin Education Solutions needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
