SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Kikuchi Seisakusho (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Kikuchi Seisakusho is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kikuchi Seisakusho
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Kikuchi Seisakusho can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kikuchi Seisakusho, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kikuchi 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Kikuchi Seisakusho
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kikuchi Seisakusho
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 Kikuchi Seisakusho
Strengths of Kikuchi Seisakusho | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kikuchi Seisakusho are -
Learning organization
- Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Kikuchi Seisakusho emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Kikuchi Seisakusho comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Ability to lead change in Misc. Capital Goods
– Kikuchi Seisakusho is one of the leading players in the Misc. Capital Goods industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Misc. Capital Goods industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Kikuchi Seisakusho in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kikuchi Seisakusho has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– Kikuchi Seisakusho has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kikuchi Seisakusho to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kikuchi Seisakusho to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Digital Transformation in Misc. Capital Goods industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kikuchi Seisakusho digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kikuchi 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.
Training and development
– Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Capital Goods industry
– Kikuchi 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kikuchi 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kikuchi Seisakusho in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. Kikuchi Seisakusho has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kikuchi Seisakusho to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Kikuchi Seisakusho | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kikuchi Seisakusho are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Kikuchi Seisakusho, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Misc. Capital Goods 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kikuchi Seisakusho needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kikuchi 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.
High dependence on Kikuchi Seisakusho ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kikuchi Seisakusho is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Kikuchi Seisakusho is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kikuchi Seisakusho vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Kikuchi Seisakusho strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Kikuchi Seisakusho, in the dynamic environment of Misc. Capital Goods industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kikuchi Seisakusho has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kikuchi Seisakusho is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Kikuchi Seisakusho Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Kikuchi Seisakusho are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kikuchi Seisakusho can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kikuchi Seisakusho operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Capital Goods sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Misc. Capital Goods industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Kikuchi Seisakusho 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. Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Kikuchi 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry.
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. Kikuchi Seisakusho can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Kikuchi Seisakusho can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Kikuchi Seisakusho can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kikuchi Seisakusho to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Kikuchi 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kikuchi Seisakusho can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kikuchi Seisakusho to increase its market reach. Kikuchi 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kikuchi Seisakusho has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Capital Goods industry. This can help Kikuchi Seisakusho to build a more holistic ecosystem for Kikuchi Seisakusho products in the Misc. Capital Goods industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Kikuchi Seisakusho External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Kikuchi Seisakusho are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kikuchi Seisakusho has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kikuchi Seisakusho 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Kikuchi Seisakusho 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kikuchi 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho prominent markets.
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. Kikuchi Seisakusho needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Kikuchi Seisakusho in the Misc. Capital Goods sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Kikuchi Seisakusho can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kikuchi 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry and other sectors.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Capital Goods industry are lowering. It can presents Kikuchi Seisakusho with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Capital Goods sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Kikuchi 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 Misc. Capital Goods sector.
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 Kikuchi Seisakusho business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kikuchi Seisakusho 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
– Kikuchi 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.
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 Kikuchi Seisakusho.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kikuchi Seisakusho Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Kikuchi 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 Kikuchi 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 Kikuchi 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 Kikuchi 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 Kikuchi Seisakusho needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.