SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Yomeishu Seizo (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Yomeishu Seizo is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Yomeishu Seizo can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Yomeishu Seizo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Yomeishu Seizo
2. Improving business portfolio management of Yomeishu Seizo
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Beverages (Alcoholic) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Yomeishu Seizo
Strengths of Yomeishu Seizo | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Yomeishu Seizo are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Yomeishu Seizo has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Learning organization
- Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Yomeishu Seizo emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Yomeishu Seizo in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Yomeishu Seizo has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Yomeishu Seizo to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Yomeishu Seizo is present in almost all the verticals within the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This has provided Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Digital Transformation in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Yomeishu Seizo digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Yomeishu Seizo 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
– Yomeishu Seizo is one of the most innovative firm in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– Yomeishu Seizo is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Yomeishu Seizo 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.
High brand equity
– Yomeishu Seizo has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Yomeishu Seizo to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– Yomeishu Seizo has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Yomeishu Seizo to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Yomeishu Seizo to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Yomeishu Seizo is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in Japan. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Japan. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses of Yomeishu Seizo | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Yomeishu Seizo are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Yomeishu Seizo 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry using digital technology.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Yomeishu Seizo needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Yomeishu Seizo can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Yomeishu Seizo is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Yomeishu Seizo is just above the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Yomeishu Seizo is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Yomeishu Seizo 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Yomeishu Seizo has high operating costs in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Yomeishu Seizo lucrative customers.
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 Yomeishu Seizo supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Yomeishu Seizo is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Yomeishu Seizo vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on Yomeishu Seizo ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Yomeishu Seizo still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Yomeishu Seizo has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Yomeishu Seizo needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Yomeishu Seizo Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Yomeishu Seizo has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Yomeishu Seizo to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Yomeishu Seizo to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Yomeishu Seizo 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. Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Yomeishu Seizo 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Yomeishu Seizo in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. Now Yomeishu Seizo can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Yomeishu Seizo can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Yomeishu Seizo to increase its market reach. Yomeishu Seizo will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Yomeishu Seizo can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Yomeishu Seizo can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Yomeishu Seizo 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Yomeishu Seizo can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Yomeishu Seizo can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Yomeishu Seizo operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Threats Yomeishu Seizo External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Yomeishu Seizo are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Beverages (Alcoholic) industry are lowering. It can presents Yomeishu Seizo with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Yomeishu Seizo 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Yomeishu Seizo
– 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 Yomeishu Seizo.
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 Yomeishu Seizo business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
Environmental challenges
– Yomeishu Seizo 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. Yomeishu Seizo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Yomeishu Seizo 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, Yomeishu Seizo may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
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. Yomeishu Seizo 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.
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 Yomeishu Seizo.
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. Yomeishu Seizo needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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 Yomeishu Seizo in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Yomeishu Seizo 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Yomeishu Seizo Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo 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 Yomeishu Seizo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.