Teikoku Sen I (3302) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Textiles - Non Apparel
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Teikoku Sen I (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Teikoku Sen I is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Teikoku Sen I can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Teikoku Sen I, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Teikoku Sen I
2. Improving business portfolio management of Teikoku Sen I
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Textiles - Non Apparel sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Teikoku Sen I
Strengths of Teikoku Sen I | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Teikoku Sen I are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– Teikoku Sen I has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Teikoku Sen I to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Teikoku Sen I to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Teikoku Sen I emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Teikoku Sen I has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Teikoku Sen I to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Teikoku Sen I has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Teikoku Sen I 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 Textiles - Non Apparel
– Teikoku Sen I is one of the leading players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Teikoku Sen I in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Teikoku Sen I 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.
Training and development
– Teikoku Sen I 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.
Organizational Resilience of Teikoku Sen I
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Teikoku Sen I does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Teikoku Sen I 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 Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Digital Transformation in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Teikoku Sen I digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Teikoku Sen I 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Teikoku Sen I in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Teikoku Sen I has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Teikoku Sen I to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Teikoku Sen I has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Textiles - Non Apparel industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Teikoku Sen I have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Teikoku Sen I | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Teikoku Sen I are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Teikoku Sen I needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Teikoku Sen I needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Teikoku Sen I can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Teikoku Sen I is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Teikoku Sen I is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Teikoku Sen I to provide better information regarding Textiles - Non Apparel products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Teikoku Sen I is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, but Teikoku Sen I needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Teikoku Sen I to focus more on services in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Teikoku Sen I 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, Teikoku Sen I has high operating costs in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Teikoku Sen I lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Teikoku Sen I 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Teikoku Sen I has some of the most successful models in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Teikoku Sen I should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Teikoku Sen I is one of the leading players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Teikoku Sen I 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Teikoku Sen I has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Teikoku Sen I Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Teikoku Sen I are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Teikoku Sen I has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Textiles - Non Apparel industry. This can help Teikoku Sen I to build a more holistic ecosystem for Teikoku Sen I products in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Teikoku Sen I 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Teikoku Sen I can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Textiles - Non Apparel industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Teikoku Sen I can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Teikoku Sen I in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. Now Teikoku Sen I can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Teikoku Sen I 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Teikoku Sen I 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Teikoku Sen I can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Teikoku Sen I 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Teikoku Sen I can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Teikoku Sen I operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Textiles - Non Apparel sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Teikoku Sen I is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Teikoku Sen I can utilize new technology in the field of Textiles - Non Apparel industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Teikoku Sen I to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Threats Teikoku Sen I External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Teikoku Sen I are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Teikoku Sen I 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
– Teikoku Sen I 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
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.
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. Teikoku Sen I needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Textiles - Non Apparel industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Teikoku Sen I can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Teikoku Sen I business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Teikoku Sen I is facing in Textiles - Non Apparel sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Teikoku Sen I 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Teikoku Sen I
– 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 Teikoku Sen I.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Teikoku Sen I has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Teikoku Sen I needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Environmental challenges
– Teikoku Sen I 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. Teikoku Sen I can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
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. Teikoku Sen I will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Teikoku Sen I in Textiles - Non Apparel industry. The Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Teikoku Sen I Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I 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 Teikoku Sen I needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.