SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Masi Agricola SpA (Italy)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Masi Agricola SpA is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Masi Agricola SpA
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Masi Agricola SpA can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Masi Agricola SpA, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Masi Agricola SpA
2. Improving business portfolio management of Masi Agricola SpA
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Italy
4. Making a Beverages (Alcoholic) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Masi Agricola SpA
Strengths of Masi Agricola SpA | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Masi Agricola SpA are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– Masi Agricola SpA has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Masi Agricola SpA to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Masi Agricola SpA to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Masi Agricola SpA 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Masi Agricola SpA in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Masi Agricola SpA in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Masi Agricola SpA has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Masi Agricola SpA to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Masi Agricola SpA is one of the most innovative firm in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Masi Agricola SpA has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Masi Agricola SpA have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Masi Agricola SpA 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Masi Agricola SpA has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Masi Agricola SpA 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.
Digital Transformation in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Masi Agricola SpA digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Masi Agricola SpA 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Masi Agricola SpA 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
– Masi Agricola SpA is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
High brand equity
– Masi Agricola SpA has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Masi Agricola SpA to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Masi Agricola SpA | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Masi Agricola SpA are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Masi Agricola SpA, in the dynamic environment of Beverages (Alcoholic) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Masi Agricola SpA has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Masi Agricola SpA is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Masi Agricola SpA to provide better information regarding Beverages (Alcoholic) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Masi Agricola SpA 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Masi Agricola SpA has high operating costs in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Masi Agricola SpA lucrative customers.
High dependence on Masi Agricola SpA ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Masi Agricola SpA still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Masi Agricola SpA has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Masi Agricola SpA products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Masi Agricola SpA needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Masi Agricola SpA needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Masi Agricola SpA can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Masi Agricola SpA is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Masi Agricola SpA is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, but Masi Agricola SpA needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Masi Agricola SpA to focus more on services in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Italy, Masi Agricola SpA 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Masi Agricola SpA has some of the most successful models in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Masi Agricola SpA should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, Masi Agricola SpA 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.
Masi Agricola SpA Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Masi Agricola SpA are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Masi Agricola SpA has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This can help Masi Agricola SpA to build a more holistic ecosystem for Masi Agricola SpA products in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Masi Agricola SpA can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Masi Agricola SpA can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Masi Agricola SpA 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.
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 Masi Agricola SpA 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Masi Agricola SpA in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Masi Agricola SpA can develop new processes and procedures in Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Masi Agricola SpA has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Masi Agricola SpA to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Masi Agricola SpA to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Masi Agricola SpA 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Masi Agricola SpA can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Masi Agricola SpA can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Masi Agricola SpA operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Threats Masi Agricola SpA External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Masi Agricola SpA are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Masi Agricola SpA in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Masi Agricola SpA is facing in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Masi Agricola SpA 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.
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 Masi Agricola SpA.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Masi Agricola SpA can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Beverages (Alcoholic) industry are lowering. It can presents Masi Agricola SpA with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
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 Masi Agricola SpA business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Masi Agricola SpA 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Masi Agricola SpA may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Masi Agricola SpA 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA prominent markets.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Masi Agricola SpA Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA 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 Masi Agricola SpA needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
