Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices,
technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Todays Writing Instruments Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Office Supplies sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd
Strengths of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd are -
Training and development
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical 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 Office Supplies industry
– Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Organizational Resilience of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Todays Writing Instruments Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Todays Writing Instruments 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 Office Supplies 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.
Ability to lead change in Office Supplies
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is one of the leading players in the Office Supplies industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Office Supplies industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Todays Writing Instruments Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Office Supplies industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Todays Writing Instruments Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is one of the leading players in the Office Supplies 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Todays Writing Instruments Ltd staying ahead in the Office Supplies industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Office Supplies industry
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Office Supplies industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Office Supplies industry. This has provided Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Weaknesses of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd are -
High dependence on Todays Writing Instruments Ltd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Office Supplies industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has high operating costs in the Office Supplies industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Todays Writing Instruments Ltd lucrative customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Todays Writing Instruments 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Office Supplies industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is one of the leading players in the Office Supplies industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Office Supplies industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Office Supplies industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Todays Writing Instruments Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Office Supplies industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Todays Writing Instruments Ltd 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, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is just above the Office Supplies 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Office Supplies industry, but Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to focus more on services in the Office Supplies industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Todays Writing Instruments Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd are -
Manufacturing automation
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Office Supplies 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.
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. Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to increase its market reach. Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Office Supplies industry. This can help Todays Writing Instruments Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Todays Writing Instruments Ltd products in the Office Supplies industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Todays Writing Instruments Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Office Supplies sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Office Supplies 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Todays Writing Instruments Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Office Supplies industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Threats Todays Writing Instruments Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd are -
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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Todays Writing Instruments 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 Office Supplies sector.
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. Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Office Supplies industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Office Supplies industry regulations.
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. Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Todays Writing Instruments 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 Office Supplies industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Todays Writing Instruments 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Todays Writing Instruments Ltd in Office Supplies industry. The Office Supplies 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Todays Writing Instruments Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Office Supplies industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Office Supplies 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Todays Writing Instruments Ltd 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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd prominent markets.
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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Todays Writing Instruments Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments 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 Todays Writing Instruments Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
