Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd (4924) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Personal & Household Prods.
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Personal & Household Prods. sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd
Strengths of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Personal & Household Prods. industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This has provided Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd staying ahead in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Personal & Household Prods. sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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.
Ability to lead change in Personal & Household Prods.
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is one of the leading players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd are -
Employees’ less understanding of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to provide better information regarding Personal & Household Prods. products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Personal & Household Prods. industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Personal & Household Prods. industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Personal & Household Prods. 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has high operating costs in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, but Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to focus more on services in the Personal & Household Prods. industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Personal & Household Prods. industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd are -
Manufacturing automation
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. Now Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Personal & Household Prods. sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Personal & Household Prods. industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Personal & Household Prods. sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd to increase its market reach. Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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.
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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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.
Threats Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd prominent markets.
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. Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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.
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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd in the Personal & Household Prods. sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Increasing wage structure of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd
– 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd.
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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Personal & Household Prods. industry are lowering. It can presents Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Personal & Household Prods. sector.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Personal & Household Prods. industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd is facing in Personal & Household Prods. sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd 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 Dr.Ci:Labo Co Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
