GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (GEDI) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Printing & Publishing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (Italy)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the GEDI Gruppo Editoriale, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
2. Improving business portfolio management of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Italy
4. Making a Printing & Publishing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
Strengths of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has one of the best training and development program in Services industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – GEDI Gruppo Editoriale staying ahead in the Printing & Publishing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Printing & Publishing
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is one of the leading players in the Printing & Publishing industry in Italy. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Printing & Publishing industry in Italy but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled GEDI Gruppo Editoriale in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Printing & Publishing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Printing & Publishing industry
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Printing & Publishing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale in Printing & Publishing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is one of the most innovative firm in Printing & Publishing sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is one of the leading players in the Printing & Publishing industry in Italy. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Italy. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 Printing & Publishing industry. The technology infrastructure of Italy 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has some of the most successful models in the Printing & Publishing industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ less understanding of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to provide better information regarding Printing & Publishing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at GEDI Gruppo Editoriale, in the dynamic environment of Printing & Publishing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has high operating costs in the Printing & Publishing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract GEDI Gruppo Editoriale lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Printing & Publishing industry, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Printing & Publishing industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Printing & Publishing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Italy, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Printing & Publishing industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Need for greater diversity
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
GEDI Gruppo Editoriale Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for GEDI Gruppo Editoriale in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Printing & Publishing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Printing & Publishing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that GEDI Gruppo Editoriale operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Printing & Publishing sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can develop new processes and procedures in Printing & Publishing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Printing & Publishing 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to increase its market reach. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Printing & Publishing industry. This can help GEDI Gruppo Editoriale to build a more holistic ecosystem for GEDI Gruppo Editoriale products in the Printing & Publishing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Threats GEDI Gruppo Editoriale External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is facing in Printing & Publishing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Printing & Publishing industry are lowering. It can presents GEDI Gruppo Editoriale with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Printing & Publishing sector.
Environmental challenges
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Printing & Publishing industry.
Increasing wage structure of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale
– 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for GEDI Gruppo Editoriale in Printing & Publishing industry. The Printing & Publishing 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.
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.
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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale in the Printing & Publishing sector and impact the bottomline 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. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Printing & Publishing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Printing & Publishing sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– GEDI Gruppo Editoriale has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Printing & Publishing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Printing & Publishing 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GEDI Gruppo Editoriale Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale 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 GEDI Gruppo Editoriale needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.