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 – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -

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.

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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

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.

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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communications Services industry

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communications Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

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.

Training and development

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has one of the best training and development program in Services industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Communications Services 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.

Innovation driven organization

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

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.

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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 -

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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Communications Services industry using digital technology.

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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Communications Services industry in last five years.

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.

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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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.

Need for greater diversity

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to provide better information regarding Communications Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Communications Services industry over the last five years. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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.

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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 -

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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communications Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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.

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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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.

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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Communications Services industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in the Communications Services industry. Now Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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.

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.

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.

Manufacturing automation

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communications Services 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.

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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 -

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.

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.

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.

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 Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in the Communications Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co 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 Communications Services industry regulations.

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.

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. Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communications Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co in Communications Services industry. The Communications Services 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.

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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co is facing in Communications Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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.

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.

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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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