SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Chofu Seisakusho (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Chofu Seisakusho is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Chofu Seisakusho can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chofu Seisakusho, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Chofu Seisakusho
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chofu Seisakusho
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Appliance & Tool sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Chofu Seisakusho
Strengths of Chofu Seisakusho | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chofu Seisakusho are -
Organizational Resilience of Chofu Seisakusho
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Chofu Seisakusho does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Appliance & Tool
– Chofu Seisakusho is one of the leading players in the Appliance & Tool industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Appliance & Tool industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Chofu Seisakusho in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Appliance & Tool industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Chofu Seisakusho digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Chofu Seisakusho is one of the most innovative firm in Appliance & Tool sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Chofu Seisakusho in Appliance & Tool industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Chofu Seisakusho has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chofu Seisakusho to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Chofu Seisakusho in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Chofu Seisakusho has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Chofu Seisakusho to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Chofu Seisakusho has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Chofu Seisakusho staying ahead in the Appliance & Tool industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Chofu Seisakusho has one of the best training and development program in Consumer Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Chofu Seisakusho has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Appliance & Tool industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Chofu Seisakusho have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Chofu Seisakusho emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Weaknesses of Chofu Seisakusho | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Chofu Seisakusho are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Appliance & Tool industry, Chofu Seisakusho 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Chofu Seisakusho has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Appliance & Tool 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 dependence on Chofu Seisakusho ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Chofu Seisakusho still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Appliance & Tool industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Chofu Seisakusho has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Chofu Seisakusho has some of the most successful models in the Appliance & Tool industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Chofu Seisakusho should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Chofu Seisakusho, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Appliance & Tool 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Chofu Seisakusho needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Appliance & Tool industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Chofu Seisakusho can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Chofu Seisakusho is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Chofu Seisakusho is just above the Appliance & Tool 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Chofu Seisakusho 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Appliance & Tool industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Chofu Seisakusho 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 Appliance & Tool industry.
Employees’ less understanding of Chofu Seisakusho strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Chofu Seisakusho, in the dynamic environment of Appliance & Tool industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Chofu Seisakusho has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Chofu Seisakusho Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Chofu Seisakusho are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Appliance & Tool industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Chofu Seisakusho can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Chofu Seisakusho can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Chofu Seisakusho has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Appliance & Tool industry. This can help Chofu Seisakusho to build a more holistic ecosystem for Chofu Seisakusho products in the Appliance & Tool industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Chofu Seisakusho in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Appliance & Tool industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Chofu Seisakusho is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Chofu Seisakusho can utilize new technology in the field of Appliance & Tool industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Appliance & Tool industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Chofu Seisakusho 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. Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Chofu Seisakusho can develop new processes and procedures in Appliance & Tool 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chofu Seisakusho 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 Appliance & Tool industry.
Manufacturing automation
– Chofu Seisakusho can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Appliance & Tool 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.
Threats Chofu Seisakusho External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Chofu Seisakusho are -
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. Chofu Seisakusho needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Appliance & Tool industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Chofu Seisakusho 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Chofu Seisakusho 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 Appliance & Tool industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Chofu Seisakusho has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Appliance & Tool industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Chofu Seisakusho needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Appliance & Tool 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho prominent markets.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Appliance & Tool industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Chofu Seisakusho can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Chofu Seisakusho in the Appliance & Tool sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Chofu Seisakusho 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. Chofu Seisakusho can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Appliance & Tool industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Chofu Seisakusho 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 Appliance & Tool industry and other sectors.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Chofu Seisakusho may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Appliance & Tool sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Chofu Seisakusho is facing in Appliance & Tool sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Chofu Seisakusho
– 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 Chofu Seisakusho.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Chofu Seisakusho Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho 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 Chofu Seisakusho needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.