SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Dream Incubator Inc (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Dream Incubator Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dream Incubator Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Dream Incubator Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dream Incubator Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Dream Incubator Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dream Incubator Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Insurance (Accident & Health) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Dream Incubator Inc
Strengths of Dream Incubator Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dream Incubator Inc are -
Digital Transformation in Insurance (Accident & Health) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dream Incubator Inc digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry
– Dream Incubator Inc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Dream Incubator Inc 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 Insurance (Accident & Health) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dream Incubator Inc is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Accident & Health) 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.
Ability to lead change in Insurance (Accident & Health)
– Dream Incubator Inc is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Dream Incubator Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Insurance (Accident & Health) industry
– Dream Incubator Inc has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dream Incubator Inc to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dream Incubator Inc to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dream Incubator Inc in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Dream Incubator Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dream Incubator Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dream Incubator Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. This has provided Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Training and development
– Dream Incubator Inc has one of the best training and development program in Financial 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dream Incubator Inc has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Dream Incubator Inc staying ahead in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of Dream Incubator Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dream Incubator Inc are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Dream Incubator Inc is just above the Insurance (Accident & Health) 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Dream Incubator Inc has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Dream Incubator Inc, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Insurance (Accident & Health) 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dream Incubator Inc has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry over the last five years. Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dream Incubator Inc has some of the most successful models in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Dream Incubator Inc should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Dream Incubator Inc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Dream Incubator Inc to provide better information regarding Insurance (Accident & Health) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Dream Incubator Inc needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Dream Incubator Inc can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dream Incubator Inc is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ less understanding of Dream Incubator Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dream Incubator Inc 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 Insurance (Accident & Health) industry using digital technology.
Dream Incubator Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Dream Incubator Inc are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dream Incubator Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Insurance (Accident & Health) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Dream Incubator Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dream Incubator Inc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Dream Incubator Inc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Insurance (Accident & Health) 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Insurance (Accident & Health) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Dream Incubator Inc can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Dream Incubator Inc can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dream Incubator Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. This can help Dream Incubator Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Dream Incubator Inc products in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dream Incubator Inc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc 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 Insurance (Accident & Health) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Dream Incubator Inc in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. Now Dream Incubator Inc can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dream Incubator Inc can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dream Incubator Inc operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Insurance (Accident & Health) sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Dream Incubator Inc 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. Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Dream Incubator Inc can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Insurance (Accident & Health) 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.
Threats Dream Incubator Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Dream Incubator Inc are -
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 Dream Incubator Inc.
Environmental challenges
– Dream Incubator Inc 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. Dream Incubator Inc can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Insurance (Accident & Health) industry are lowering. It can presents Dream Incubator Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Insurance (Accident & Health) sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dream Incubator Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dream Incubator Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Insurance (Accident & Health) 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.
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.
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. Dream Incubator Inc 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dream Incubator Inc is facing in Insurance (Accident & Health) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Dream Incubator Inc in the Insurance (Accident & Health) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dream Incubator Inc 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.
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. Dream Incubator Inc needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Insurance (Accident & Health) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Dream Incubator Inc may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Insurance (Accident & Health) sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dream Incubator Inc 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 Insurance (Accident & Health) industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dream Incubator Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc 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 Dream Incubator Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.