Japan Cash Machine (6418) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Japan Cash Machine (Japan)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Japan Cash Machine is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Japan Cash Machine

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Japan Cash Machine can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Japan Cash Machine, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Japan Cash Machine
2. Improving business portfolio management of Japan Cash Machine
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Office Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Japan Cash Machine

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Strengths of Japan Cash Machine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Japan Cash Machine are -

Training and development

– Japan Cash Machine has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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

– Japan Cash Machine has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Japan Cash Machine 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– Japan Cash Machine is one of the leading players in the Office Equipment 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.

Digital Transformation in Office Equipment industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Japan Cash Machine digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Japan Cash Machine 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Japan Cash Machine has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Japan Cash Machine staying ahead in the Office Equipment industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Learning organization

- Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Japan Cash Machine emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Japan Cash Machine in Office Equipment industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Japan Cash Machine has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Office Equipment industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Japan Cash Machine have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Ability to lead change in Office Equipment

– Japan Cash Machine is one of the leading players in the Office Equipment industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Office Equipment industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Japan Cash Machine in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Analytics focus

– Japan Cash Machine 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 Office Equipment 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Japan Cash Machine 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.

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Weaknesses of Japan Cash Machine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Japan Cash Machine are -

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Japan Cash Machine has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Office Equipment industry over the last five years. Japan Cash Machine 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Japan Cash Machine has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Office Equipment industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Japan Cash Machine is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Japan Cash Machine to provide better information regarding Office Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Japan Cash Machine, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Office Equipment 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.

Employees’ less understanding of Japan Cash Machine strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Japan Cash Machine 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Office Equipment industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Japan Cash Machine 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 Office Equipment industry.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Japan Cash Machine 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Japan Cash Machine 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 Office Equipment industry using digital technology.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Japan Cash Machine has high operating costs in the Office Equipment industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Japan Cash Machine lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Japan Cash Machine is just above the Office Equipment 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Office Equipment industry, Japan Cash Machine 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.

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Japan Cash Machine Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Japan Cash Machine are -

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Office Equipment industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Japan Cash Machine can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Japan Cash Machine in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Office Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Loyalty marketing

– Japan Cash Machine 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Japan Cash Machine to increase its market reach. Japan Cash Machine 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Japan Cash Machine can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Office Equipment 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Japan Cash Machine 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Office Equipment industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Japan Cash Machine 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. Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine 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 Office Equipment industry.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Japan Cash Machine has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Office Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Japan Cash Machine to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Japan Cash Machine to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Japan Cash Machine 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.

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. Japan Cash Machine can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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Threats Japan Cash Machine External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Japan Cash Machine are -

Environmental challenges

– Japan Cash Machine 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. Japan Cash Machine can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Office Equipment industry.

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. Japan Cash Machine needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Office Equipment 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, Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Japan Cash Machine in Office Equipment industry. The Office Equipment 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.

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.

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 Japan Cash Machine.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Japan Cash Machine is facing in Office Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Japan Cash Machine 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 Office Equipment industry and other sectors.

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. Japan Cash Machine 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Office Equipment industry are lowering. It can presents Japan Cash Machine with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Office Equipment sector.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Japan Cash Machine has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Office Equipment industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Japan Cash Machine needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Office Equipment 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.

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 Japan Cash Machine business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Japan Cash Machine Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine 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 Japan Cash Machine needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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