Apollo Power (APLP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Apollo Power (Israel)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Apollo Power is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Apollo Power

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Apollo Power can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Apollo Power, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Apollo Power 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 Apollo Power can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Apollo Power
2. Improving business portfolio management of Apollo Power
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Israel
4. Making a Hotels & Motels sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Apollo Power

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Strengths of Apollo Power | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Apollo Power are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Apollo Power has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Hotels & Motels industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Apollo Power have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Strong track record of project management in the Hotels & Motels industry

– Apollo Power is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Learning organization

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

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Apollo Power in Hotels & Motels industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Apollo Power 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Apollo Power is one of the leading players in the Hotels & Motels 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.

High brand equity

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

Digital Transformation in Hotels & Motels industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Apollo Power digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Apollo Power 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 Apollo Power comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Hotels & Motels 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Hotels & Motels industry

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

Ability to lead change in Hotels & Motels

– Apollo Power is one of the leading players in the Hotels & Motels industry in Israel. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Hotels & Motels industry in Israel but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Apollo Power in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

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Weaknesses of Apollo Power | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Apollo Power are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Apollo Power is one of the leading players in the Hotels & Motels industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Hotels & Motels industry in last five years.

Skills based hiring in Hotels & Motels industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Apollo Power has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Apollo Power is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Apollo Power to provide better information regarding Hotels & Motels products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Apollo Power needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Hotels & Motels industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Apollo Power can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Apollo Power is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Apollo Power has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Hotels & Motels industry over the last five years. Apollo Power 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Apollo Power is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Hotels & Motels industry, but Apollo Power needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Apollo Power to focus more on services in the Hotels & Motels industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Need for greater diversity

– Apollo Power 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.

High dependence on Apollo Power ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Apollo Power still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Hotels & Motels industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Apollo Power has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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 Apollo Power supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Apollo Power is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Apollo Power vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Apollo Power, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Hotels & Motels 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

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

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Apollo Power Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Apollo Power are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Apollo Power has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Hotels & Motels industry. This can help Apollo Power to build a more holistic ecosystem for Apollo Power products in the Hotels & Motels industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Hotels & Motels industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Apollo Power can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Buying journey improvements

– Apollo Power can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Hotels & Motels 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 Apollo Power 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 Apollo Power can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

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

Loyalty marketing

– Apollo Power 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 Apollo Power 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 Apollo Power to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Manufacturing automation

– Apollo Power can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Hotels & Motels 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.

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 Apollo Power 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Apollo Power can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Apollo Power operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Hotels & Motels sector.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Hotels & Motels industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Apollo Power in the Hotels & Motels industry. Now Apollo Power can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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. Apollo Power can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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Threats Apollo Power External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Apollo Power are -

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.

Environmental challenges

– Apollo Power 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. Apollo Power can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Hotels & Motels industry.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Apollo Power 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 Apollo Power prominent markets.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Hotels & Motels industry are lowering. It can presents Apollo Power with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Hotels & Motels sector.

Increasing wage structure of Apollo Power

– 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 Apollo Power.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Apollo Power has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Hotels & Motels industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Apollo Power needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Hotels & Motels 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.

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. Apollo Power needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Hotels & Motels industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Apollo Power in Hotels & Motels industry. The Hotels & Motels 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.

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 Apollo Power business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Hotels & Motels industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Apollo Power 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

– Apollo Power 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 Hotels & Motels industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Apollo Power may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Hotels & Motels sector.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Apollo Power Template, Example

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

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