Atlas Pearls and Perfumes (ATP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Jewelry & Silverware
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes (Australia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Atlas Pearls and Perfumes, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes
2. Improving business portfolio management of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Jewelry & Silverware sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes
Strengths of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Jewelry & Silverware industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Atlas Pearls and Perfumes staying ahead in the Jewelry & Silverware industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
Analytics focus
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry. The technology infrastructure of Australia 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.
Training and development
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
Ability to lead change in Jewelry & Silverware
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is one of the leading players in the Jewelry & Silverware industry in Australia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Jewelry & Silverware industry in Australia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Atlas Pearls and Perfumes in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Jewelry & Silverware industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Atlas Pearls and Perfumes digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
Organizational Resilience of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Atlas Pearls and Perfumes does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is one of the most innovative firm in Jewelry & Silverware sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Jewelry & Silverware industry
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Jewelry & Silverware industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Atlas Pearls and Perfumes emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is present in almost all the verticals within the Jewelry & Silverware industry. This has provided Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
Weaknesses of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Jewelry & Silverware 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Australia, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Atlas Pearls and Perfumes vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Jewelry & Silverware industry, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is just above the Jewelry & Silverware 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.
High dependence on Atlas Pearls and Perfumes ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Jewelry & Silverware industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Atlas Pearls and Perfumes, in the dynamic environment of Jewelry & Silverware industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Jewelry & Silverware industry, but Atlas Pearls and Perfumes needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to focus more on services in the Jewelry & Silverware industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Atlas Pearls and Perfumes Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Jewelry & Silverware 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Jewelry & Silverware industry. This can help Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to build a more holistic ecosystem for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes products in the Jewelry & Silverware industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Jewelry & Silverware industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes in the Jewelry & Silverware industry. Now Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Jewelry & Silverware sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Atlas Pearls and Perfumes operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Jewelry & Silverware sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can utilize new technology in the field of Jewelry & Silverware industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Jewelry & Silverware industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Atlas Pearls and Perfumes External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes are -
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes prominent markets.
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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes.
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. Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Atlas Pearls and Perfumes may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Jewelry & Silverware sector.
Environmental challenges
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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. Atlas Pearls and Perfumes can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Jewelry & Silverware industry.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Atlas Pearls and Perfumes in the Jewelry & Silverware sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Atlas Pearls and Perfumes is facing in Jewelry & Silverware sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Jewelry & Silverware industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Atlas Pearls and Perfumes Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes 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 Atlas Pearls and Perfumes needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.