Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co (9436) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co (Japan)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co
2. Improving business portfolio management of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Communications Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co

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Strengths of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co are -

Diverse revenue streams

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is present in almost all the verticals within the Communications Services industry. This has provided Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Services sector.

Digital Transformation in Communications Services industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co staying ahead in the Communications Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Learning organization

- Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry in Japan. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Japan. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Analytics focus

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Communications Services 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Communications Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in Communications Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Strong track record of project management in the Communications Services industry

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

Ability to lead change in Communications Services

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Communications Services industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

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Weaknesses of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co are -

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Communications Services 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.

Skills based hiring in Communications Services industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Communications Services industry, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Japan, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Employees’ less understanding of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has high operating costs in the Communications Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co lucrative customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co, in the dynamic environment of Communications Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is just above the Communications Services 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.

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Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co are -

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. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communications Services sector.

Buying journey improvements

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Communications Services 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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Communications Services industry.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Communications Services industry. This can help Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to build a more holistic ecosystem for Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co products in the Communications Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Communications Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can utilize new technology in the field of Communications Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

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

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Communications Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can develop new processes and procedures in Communications Services 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.

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Threats Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co are -

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Communications Services industry and other sectors.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communications Services sector.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communications Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communications Services 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.

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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co.

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. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the Communications Services industry.

Environmental challenges

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communications Services industry.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co prominent markets.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Increasing wage structure of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co

– 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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Communications Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co Template, Example

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

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