BH Whitestone Group (WTS) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for BH Whitestone Group (Israel)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , BH Whitestone Group is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BH Whitestone Group

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that BH Whitestone Group can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the BH Whitestone Group, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which BH Whitestone Group 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of BH Whitestone Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of BH Whitestone Group
2. Improving business portfolio management of BH Whitestone Group
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Israel
4. Making a Communications Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of BH Whitestone Group

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Strengths of BH Whitestone Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of BH Whitestone Group are -

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communications Equipment industry

– BH Whitestone Group has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled BH Whitestone Group to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communications Equipment industry. The sustainable margins have also helped BH Whitestone Group to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of BH Whitestone Group

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing BH Whitestone Group does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High brand equity

– BH Whitestone Group has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled BH Whitestone Group to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Diverse revenue streams

– BH Whitestone Group is present in almost all the verticals within the Communications Equipment industry. This has provided BH Whitestone Group 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the BH Whitestone Group 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of BH Whitestone Group in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. BH Whitestone Group has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps BH Whitestone Group to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Innovation driven organization

– BH Whitestone Group is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Equipment sector.

Learning organization

- BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at BH Whitestone Group emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– BH Whitestone Group has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. BH Whitestone Group 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.

Training and development

– BH Whitestone Group has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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.

Analytics focus

– BH Whitestone Group 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 Communications Equipment industry. The technology infrastructure of Israel 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 recruit top talent

– BH Whitestone Group is one of the leading players in the Communications Equipment industry in Israel. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Israel. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

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Weaknesses of BH Whitestone Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of BH Whitestone Group are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Communications Equipment industry, BH Whitestone Group 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.

Employees’ less understanding of BH Whitestone Group strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Communications Equipment 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 BH Whitestone Group is one of the leading players in the Communications Equipment industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Communications Equipment industry in last five years.

Products dominated business model

– Even though BH Whitestone Group has some of the most successful models in the Communications Equipment industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. BH Whitestone Group should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Lack of clear differentiation of BH Whitestone Group products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, BH Whitestone Group needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Israel, BH Whitestone Group needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High dependence on BH Whitestone Group ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of BH Whitestone Group still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Communications Equipment industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though BH Whitestone Group has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at BH Whitestone Group, in the dynamic environment of Communications Equipment industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. BH Whitestone Group has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of BH Whitestone Group is just above the Communications Equipment 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.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of BH Whitestone Group supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, BH Whitestone Group is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left BH Whitestone Group vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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BH Whitestone Group Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of BH Whitestone Group are -

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help BH Whitestone Group to increase its market reach. BH Whitestone Group 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.

Manufacturing automation

– BH Whitestone Group can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communications Equipment 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– BH Whitestone Group has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Communications Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled BH Whitestone Group to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help BH Whitestone Group to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for BH Whitestone Group in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communications Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Buying journey improvements

– BH Whitestone Group can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Communications Equipment 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, BH Whitestone Group is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BH Whitestone Group can utilize new technology in the field of Communications Equipment industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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, BH Whitestone Group can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that BH Whitestone Group operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communications Equipment sector.

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. BH Whitestone Group can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for BH Whitestone Group 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Communications Equipment industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for BH Whitestone Group in the Communications Equipment industry. Now BH Whitestone Group can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Leveraging digital technologies

– BH Whitestone Group 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, BH Whitestone Group 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.

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Threats BH Whitestone Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of BH Whitestone Group are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for BH Whitestone Group in Communications Equipment industry. The Communications Equipment 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on BH Whitestone Group 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 Communications Equipment industry and other sectors.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that BH Whitestone Group is facing in Communications Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Regulatory challenges

– BH Whitestone Group 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 Communications Equipment industry regulations.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, BH Whitestone Group may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communications Equipment sector.

Environmental challenges

– BH Whitestone Group 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. BH Whitestone Group can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communications Equipment industry.

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. BH Whitestone Group needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communications Equipment 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 BH Whitestone Group in the Communications Equipment sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– BH Whitestone Group has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communications Equipment industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, BH Whitestone Group needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communications Equipment 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.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Communications Equipment industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. BH Whitestone Group can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– BH Whitestone Group 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 Communications Equipment industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of BH Whitestone Group Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group 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 BH Whitestone Group needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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