SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Tenryu Saw Mfg. (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Tenryu Saw Mfg. is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Tenryu Saw Mfg. can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tenryu Saw Mfg., and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Tenryu Saw Mfg.
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tenryu Saw Mfg.
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Misc. Capital Goods sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tenryu Saw Mfg.
Strengths of Tenryu Saw Mfg. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tenryu Saw Mfg. are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. is one of the leading players in the Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Capital Goods industry
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tenryu Saw Mfg. in Misc. Capital Goods industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This has provided Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Capital Goods industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Tenryu Saw Mfg. have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Misc. Capital Goods industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tenryu Saw Mfg. digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg.
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Tenryu Saw Mfg. does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Tenryu Saw Mfg. staying ahead in the Misc. Capital Goods industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. has one of the best training and development program in Capital Goods 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tenryu Saw Mfg. to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tenryu Saw Mfg. to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Weaknesses of Tenryu Saw Mfg. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tenryu Saw Mfg. are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Tenryu Saw Mfg. is one of the leading players in the Misc. Capital Goods industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Misc. Capital Goods industry in last five years.
Employees’ less understanding of Tenryu Saw Mfg. strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Tenryu Saw Mfg. needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Capital Goods industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Tenryu Saw Mfg. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tenryu Saw Mfg. is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tenryu Saw Mfg. is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Tenryu Saw Mfg. to provide better information regarding Misc. Capital Goods products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Misc. Capital Goods industry, Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Tenryu Saw Mfg. has high operating costs in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Tenryu Saw Mfg. lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tenryu Saw Mfg. has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Capital Goods industry over the last five years. Tenryu Saw Mfg. even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on Tenryu Saw Mfg. ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Tenryu Saw Mfg. still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Misc. Capital Goods industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Tenryu Saw Mfg. has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tenryu Saw Mfg. products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tenryu Saw Mfg. needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Tenryu Saw Mfg. Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Tenryu Saw Mfg. are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tenryu Saw Mfg. has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Capital Goods industry. This can help Tenryu Saw Mfg. to build a more holistic ecosystem for Tenryu Saw Mfg. products in the Misc. Capital Goods industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Tenryu Saw Mfg. in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. Now Tenryu Saw Mfg. can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Capital Goods industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Tenryu Saw Mfg. can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. can develop new processes and procedures in Misc. Capital Goods 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.
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. Tenryu Saw Mfg. can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tenryu Saw Mfg. can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tenryu Saw Mfg. operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Capital Goods sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Capital Goods sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Tenryu Saw Mfg. to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tenryu Saw Mfg. to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Tenryu Saw Mfg. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Tenryu Saw Mfg. are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tenryu Saw Mfg. is facing in Misc. Capital Goods sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry and other sectors.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Tenryu Saw Mfg..
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. Tenryu Saw Mfg. needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Misc. Capital Goods industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tenryu Saw Mfg. can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tenryu Saw Mfg. has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tenryu Saw Mfg. needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Increasing wage structure of Tenryu Saw Mfg.
– 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg..
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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. in the Misc. Capital Goods sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tenryu Saw Mfg. Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. 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 Tenryu Saw Mfg. needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.