SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Furukawa Battery (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Furukawa Battery is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Furukawa Battery can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Furukawa Battery, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Furukawa Battery
2. Improving business portfolio management of Furukawa Battery
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Electronic Instr. & Controls sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Furukawa Battery
Strengths of Furukawa Battery | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Furukawa Battery are -
High brand equity
– Furukawa Battery has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Furukawa Battery to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Furukawa Battery is one of the most innovative firm in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Furukawa Battery comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Analytics focus
– Furukawa Battery 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
– Furukawa Battery has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Furukawa Battery to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Furukawa Battery to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Furukawa Battery 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
– Furukawa Battery has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Furukawa Battery 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.
Organizational Resilience of Furukawa Battery
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Furukawa Battery does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Electronic Instr. & Controls
– Furukawa Battery is one of the leading players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Furukawa Battery in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Furukawa Battery is one of the leading players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Furukawa Battery is present in almost all the verticals within the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. This has provided Furukawa Battery 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Furukawa Battery digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Furukawa Battery 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.
Weaknesses of Furukawa Battery | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Furukawa Battery are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Furukawa Battery is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, but Furukawa Battery needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Furukawa Battery to focus more on services in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on Furukawa Battery ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Furukawa Battery still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Furukawa Battery has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, Furukawa Battery 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Furukawa Battery 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Furukawa Battery, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Furukawa Battery is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Furukawa Battery to provide better information regarding Electronic Instr. & Controls products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Furukawa Battery, in the dynamic environment of Electronic Instr. & Controls industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Furukawa Battery has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Furukawa Battery 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Furukawa Battery 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Furukawa Battery has some of the most successful models in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Furukawa Battery should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ less understanding of Furukawa Battery strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Furukawa Battery 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.
Furukawa Battery Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Furukawa Battery are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Furukawa Battery in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Furukawa Battery 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Furukawa Battery can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Furukawa Battery is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Furukawa Battery can utilize new technology in the field of Electronic Instr. & Controls industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Furukawa Battery can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Furukawa Battery can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Furukawa Battery operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Furukawa Battery 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Furukawa Battery 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Furukawa Battery can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Furukawa Battery to increase its market reach. Furukawa Battery 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Furukawa Battery can develop new processes and procedures in Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Threats Furukawa Battery External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Furukawa Battery are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Furukawa Battery has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Furukawa Battery needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Electronic Instr. & Controls sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Environmental challenges
– Furukawa Battery 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. Furukawa Battery can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Furukawa Battery in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. The Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
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 Furukawa Battery.
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. Furukawa Battery 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Furukawa Battery is facing in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Furukawa Battery 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry regulations.
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. Furukawa Battery needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Furukawa Battery
– 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 Furukawa Battery.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Furukawa Battery may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Furukawa Battery can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Furukawa Battery business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Furukawa Battery Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery 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 Furukawa Battery needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.