SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku
2. Improving business portfolio management of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku
Strengths of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Chemical Manufacturing 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
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku staying ahead in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is present in almost all the verticals within the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This has provided Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Chemical Manufacturing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Chemical Manufacturing
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Weaknesses of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has high operating costs in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku, in the dynamic environment of Chemical Manufacturing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, but Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to focus more on services in the Chemical Manufacturing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Skills based hiring in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High dependence on Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Chemical Manufacturing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry over the last five years. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Chemical Manufacturing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can develop new processes and procedures in Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can help Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to build a more holistic ecosystem for Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku products in the Chemical Manufacturing 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can utilize new technology in the field of Chemical Manufacturing industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku.
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. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku
– 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku.
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.
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 Chemical Manufacturing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry regulations.
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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku in Chemical Manufacturing industry. The Chemical Manufacturing 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku 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 Matsumoto Yushi Seiyaku needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.