SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Yaizu Suisankagaku (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Yaizu Suisankagaku is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Yaizu Suisankagaku
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Yaizu Suisankagaku can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Yaizu Suisankagaku, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Yaizu Suisankagaku
2. Improving business portfolio management of Yaizu Suisankagaku
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Food Processing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Yaizu Suisankagaku
Strengths of Yaizu Suisankagaku | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Yaizu Suisankagaku are -
Learning organization
- Yaizu Suisankagaku is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Yaizu Suisankagaku is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Yaizu Suisankagaku emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Food Processing industry
– Yaizu Suisankagaku has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Yaizu Suisankagaku to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Food Processing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Yaizu Suisankagaku to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Yaizu Suisankagaku has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Food Processing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Yaizu Suisankagaku have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Food Processing industry
– Yaizu Suisankagaku is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Yaizu Suisankagaku is present in almost all the verticals within the Food Processing industry. This has provided Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Ability to lead change in Food Processing
– Yaizu Suisankagaku is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Food Processing industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Yaizu Suisankagaku in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Yaizu Suisankagaku has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Training and development
– Yaizu Suisankagaku has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Digital Transformation in Food Processing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Yaizu Suisankagaku digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Yaizu Suisankagaku does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Yaizu Suisankagaku | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Yaizu Suisankagaku are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Yaizu Suisankagaku, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Food Processing 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Yaizu Suisankagaku products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Yaizu Suisankagaku needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Yaizu Suisankagaku is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Food Processing industry, but Yaizu Suisankagaku needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Yaizu Suisankagaku to focus more on services in the Food Processing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Yaizu Suisankagaku has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Food Processing industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Yaizu Suisankagaku has some of the most successful models in the Food Processing industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Yaizu Suisankagaku should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Yaizu Suisankagaku needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Yaizu Suisankagaku supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Yaizu Suisankagaku is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Yaizu Suisankagaku vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Yaizu Suisankagaku strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Yaizu Suisankagaku, in the dynamic environment of Food Processing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Yaizu Suisankagaku has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Yaizu Suisankagaku has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Food Processing industry over the last five years. Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Yaizu Suisankagaku Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Yaizu Suisankagaku are -
Manufacturing automation
– Yaizu Suisankagaku can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Food Processing 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Yaizu Suisankagaku to increase its market reach. Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Food Processing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Yaizu Suisankagaku in the Food Processing industry. Now Yaizu Suisankagaku can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Yaizu Suisankagaku can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Yaizu Suisankagaku can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Food Processing 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Yaizu Suisankagaku is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Yaizu Suisankagaku can utilize new technology in the field of Food Processing industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Yaizu Suisankagaku can develop new processes and procedures in Food Processing 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Yaizu Suisankagaku in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Food Processing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Yaizu Suisankagaku can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Yaizu Suisankagaku operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Food Processing sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Yaizu Suisankagaku has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Food Processing industry. This can help Yaizu Suisankagaku to build a more holistic ecosystem for Yaizu Suisankagaku products in the Food Processing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Yaizu Suisankagaku External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Yaizu Suisankagaku are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Food Processing industry are lowering. It can presents Yaizu Suisankagaku with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Food Processing sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Yaizu Suisankagaku in Food Processing industry. The Food Processing 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku prominent markets.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Food Processing industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Yaizu Suisankagaku is facing in Food Processing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Yaizu Suisankagaku business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Yaizu Suisankagaku 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. Yaizu Suisankagaku can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Food Processing industry.
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. Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Yaizu Suisankagaku 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Food Processing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Yaizu Suisankagaku can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Yaizu Suisankagaku
– 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Yaizu Suisankagaku may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Food Processing sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Yaizu Suisankagaku Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku 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 Yaizu Suisankagaku needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.