SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Ramsarup Industries Ltd (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Ramsarup Industries Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ramsarup Industries Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Ramsarup Industries Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ramsarup Industries Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Ramsarup Industries Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ramsarup Industries Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Iron & Steel sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ramsarup Industries Ltd
Strengths of Ramsarup Industries Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ramsarup Industries Ltd are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ramsarup Industries 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ramsarup Industries 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.
High brand equity
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ramsarup Industries Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ramsarup Industries Ltd in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Ramsarup Industries Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ramsarup Industries Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Iron & Steel industry
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ramsarup Industries Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Iron & Steel industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ramsarup Industries Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Iron & Steel sector.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Ramsarup Industries Ltd staying ahead in the Iron & Steel industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Iron & Steel industry
– Ramsarup Industries 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Iron & Steel industry. This has provided Ramsarup Industries 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.
Digital Transformation in Iron & Steel industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ramsarup Industries Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ramsarup Industries 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Ramsarup Industries Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Iron & Steel 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
– Ramsarup Industries 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 Iron & Steel 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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ramsarup Industries Ltd are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ramsarup Industries 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ramsarup Industries Ltd is one of the leading players in the Iron & Steel industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Iron & Steel industry in last five years.
High dependence on Ramsarup Industries Ltd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Ramsarup Industries Ltd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Iron & Steel industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Ramsarup Industries Ltd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ramsarup Industries Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Iron & Steel 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, Ramsarup Industries 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 Iron & Steel industry over the last five years. Ramsarup Industries 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ramsarup Industries Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Ramsarup Industries Ltd to provide better information regarding Iron & Steel products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Ramsarup Industries Ltd has high operating costs in the Iron & Steel industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ramsarup Industries Ltd lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ramsarup Industries Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Iron & Steel industry, but Ramsarup Industries Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ramsarup Industries Ltd to focus more on services in the Iron & Steel industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ less understanding of Ramsarup Industries Ltd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Ramsarup Industries Ltd don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ramsarup Industries Ltd has some of the most successful models in the Iron & Steel industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Ramsarup Industries Ltd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Ramsarup Industries Ltd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Iron & Steel industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Ramsarup Industries Ltd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ramsarup Industries Ltd is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ramsarup Industries Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Ramsarup Industries Ltd 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 Ramsarup Industries 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.
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. Ramsarup Industries Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Iron & Steel 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Iron & Steel industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ramsarup Industries Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ramsarup Industries Ltd in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Iron & Steel industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Ramsarup Industries 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries 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, Ramsarup Industries Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ramsarup Industries Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Iron & Steel 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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd to increase its market reach. Ramsarup Industries 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ramsarup Industries 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
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Iron & Steel 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ramsarup Industries 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.
Threats Ramsarup Industries Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Ramsarup Industries Ltd are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ramsarup Industries Ltd in Iron & Steel industry. The Iron & Steel 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.
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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ramsarup Industries 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Iron & Steel industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ramsarup Industries Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ramsarup Industries Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Iron & Steel industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ramsarup Industries Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Iron & Steel 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.
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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd in the Iron & Steel sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Iron & Steel industry are lowering. It can presents Ramsarup Industries Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Iron & Steel sector.
Increasing wage structure of Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd.
Environmental challenges
– Ramsarup Industries 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. Ramsarup Industries Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Iron & Steel industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ramsarup Industries Ltd is facing in Iron & Steel sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
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. Ramsarup Industries Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Iron & Steel industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ramsarup Industries Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries 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 Ramsarup Industries Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.