SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Inaba Seisakusho (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Inaba Seisakusho is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Inaba Seisakusho can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Inaba Seisakusho, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Inaba Seisakusho 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 Inaba Seisakusho can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Inaba Seisakusho
2. Improving business portfolio management of Inaba Seisakusho
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Furniture & Fixtures sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Inaba Seisakusho
Strengths of Inaba Seisakusho | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Inaba Seisakusho are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Digital Transformation in Furniture & Fixtures industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Inaba Seisakusho digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Furniture & Fixtures industry
– Inaba Seisakusho has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Inaba Seisakusho to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Furniture & Fixtures industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Inaba Seisakusho to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Inaba Seisakusho comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Furniture & Fixtures 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Inaba Seisakusho has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Inaba Seisakusho staying ahead in the Furniture & Fixtures industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Inaba Seisakusho is present in almost all the verticals within the Furniture & Fixtures industry. This has provided Inaba Seisakusho 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Inaba Seisakusho 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
– Inaba Seisakusho has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Inaba Seisakusho to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Inaba Seisakusho in Furniture & Fixtures industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management in the Furniture & Fixtures industry
– Inaba Seisakusho is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Inaba Seisakusho
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Inaba Seisakusho does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Inaba Seisakusho | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Inaba Seisakusho are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Inaba Seisakusho needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Furniture & Fixtures industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Inaba Seisakusho can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Inaba Seisakusho is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Inaba Seisakusho, in the dynamic environment of Furniture & Fixtures industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Inaba Seisakusho has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Inaba Seisakusho supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Inaba Seisakusho is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Inaba Seisakusho vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Inaba Seisakusho is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Furniture & Fixtures industry, but Inaba Seisakusho needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Inaba Seisakusho to focus more on services in the Furniture & Fixtures industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Inaba Seisakusho, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Furniture & Fixtures 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Inaba Seisakusho is just above the Furniture & Fixtures 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Inaba Seisakusho products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Inaba Seisakusho needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Furniture & Fixtures industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Inaba Seisakusho 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 Furniture & Fixtures industry.
Skills based hiring in Furniture & Fixtures industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Furniture & Fixtures industry, Inaba Seisakusho 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.
High dependence on Inaba Seisakusho ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Inaba Seisakusho still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Furniture & Fixtures industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Inaba Seisakusho has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Inaba Seisakusho Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Inaba Seisakusho are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Inaba Seisakusho to increase its market reach. Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Furniture & Fixtures industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Inaba Seisakusho can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Inaba Seisakusho has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Furniture & Fixtures industry. This can help Inaba Seisakusho to build a more holistic ecosystem for Inaba Seisakusho products in the Furniture & Fixtures industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Inaba Seisakusho 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 Furniture & Fixtures industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Furniture & Fixtures industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Inaba Seisakusho in the Furniture & Fixtures industry. Now Inaba Seisakusho can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Inaba Seisakusho can develop new processes and procedures in Furniture & Fixtures 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Inaba Seisakusho can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Inaba Seisakusho operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Furniture & Fixtures sector.
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. Inaba Seisakusho can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Inaba Seisakusho is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Inaba Seisakusho can utilize new technology in the field of Furniture & Fixtures industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Inaba Seisakusho External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Inaba Seisakusho are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Inaba Seisakusho has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Furniture & Fixtures industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Inaba Seisakusho needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Furniture & Fixtures 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Inaba Seisakusho 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 Furniture & Fixtures industry and other sectors.
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 Inaba Seisakusho business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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
– Inaba Seisakusho 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 Furniture & Fixtures industry.
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 Inaba Seisakusho.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Inaba Seisakusho 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Furniture & Fixtures industry are lowering. It can presents Inaba Seisakusho with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Furniture & Fixtures sector.
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 Inaba Seisakusho in the Furniture & Fixtures sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Inaba Seisakusho may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Furniture & Fixtures sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Inaba Seisakusho is facing in Furniture & Fixtures sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Inaba Seisakusho 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 Inaba Seisakusho prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Inaba Seisakusho Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Inaba Seisakusho 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 Inaba Seisakusho 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 Inaba Seisakusho 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 Inaba Seisakusho 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 Inaba Seisakusho needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.