Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc (9508) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Electric Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, 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 government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Electric Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
Strengths of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc staying ahead in the Electric Utilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is one of the most innovative firm in Electric Utilities sector.
Ability to lead change in Electric Utilities
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electric Utilities industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Electric Utilities industry. The technology infrastructure of Japan 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Organizational Resilience of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Electric Utilities industry. This has provided Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Electric Utilities industry
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc are -
Skills based hiring in Electric Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has some of the most successful models in the Electric Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Electric Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Electric Utilities industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electric Utilities industry, but Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to focus more on services in the Electric Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Electric Utilities 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is just above the Electric Utilities 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electric Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Electric Utilities industry over the last five years. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc, in the dynamic environment of Electric Utilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc are -
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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Electric Utilities 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Electric Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Electric Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to increase its market reach. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can develop new processes and procedures in Electric Utilities 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Electric Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Electric Utilities industry. This can help Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc products in the Electric Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc can utilize new technology in the field of Electric Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Threats Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc are -
Increasing wage structure of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
– 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Electric Utilities industry and other sectors.
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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc in the Electric Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Electric Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Electric Utilities 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electric Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electric Utilities sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Electric Utilities industry regulations.
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.
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. Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc in Electric Utilities industry. The Electric Utilities 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc is facing in Electric Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc 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 Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.