SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Semba Tohka Industries (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Semba Tohka Industries is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing,
increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Semba Tohka Industries
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Semba Tohka Industries can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Semba Tohka Industries, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Semba Tohka Industries
2. Improving business portfolio management of Semba Tohka Industries
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 Semba Tohka Industries
Strengths of Semba Tohka Industries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Semba Tohka Industries are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Semba Tohka Industries 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 Food Processing 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.
High brand equity
– Semba Tohka Industries has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Semba Tohka Industries to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Semba Tohka Industries emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Semba Tohka Industries in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Semba Tohka Industries has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Semba Tohka Industries to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Semba Tohka Industries in Food Processing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Food Processing
– Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management in the Food Processing industry
– Semba Tohka Industries is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Semba Tohka Industries has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Semba Tohka Industries has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Semba Tohka Industries staying ahead in the Food Processing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Food Processing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Semba Tohka Industries digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Semba Tohka Industries 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
– Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Weaknesses of Semba Tohka Industries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Semba Tohka Industries are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Semba Tohka Industries 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Semba Tohka Industries has high operating costs in the Food Processing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Semba Tohka Industries lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Semba Tohka Industries needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Semba Tohka Industries is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Food Processing industry, but Semba Tohka Industries needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Semba Tohka Industries to focus more on services in the Food Processing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Semba Tohka Industries 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. Semba Tohka Industries should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Semba Tohka Industries, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Semba Tohka Industries needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Food Processing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Semba Tohka Industries can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Semba Tohka Industries 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, Semba Tohka Industries is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Semba Tohka Industries to provide better information regarding Food Processing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Semba Tohka Industries, in the dynamic environment of Food Processing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Semba Tohka Industries has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Semba Tohka Industries supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Semba Tohka Industries is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Semba Tohka Industries vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Food Processing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Semba Tohka Industries is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Food Processing industry.
Semba Tohka Industries Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Semba Tohka Industries are -
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 Semba Tohka Industries in the Food Processing industry. Now Semba Tohka Industries can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Semba Tohka Industries 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 Food Processing industry.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Semba Tohka Industries can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Semba Tohka Industries is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Semba Tohka Industries has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Food Processing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Semba Tohka Industries to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Semba Tohka Industries to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Semba Tohka Industries has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Food Processing industry. This can help Semba Tohka Industries to build a more holistic ecosystem for Semba Tohka Industries products in the Food Processing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Semba Tohka Industries 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.
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. Semba Tohka Industries can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Semba Tohka Industries can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Threats Semba Tohka Industries External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Semba Tohka Industries are -
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. Semba Tohka Industries can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Semba Tohka Industries is facing in Food Processing 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 Semba Tohka Industries in the Food Processing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Semba Tohka Industries 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 Food Processing industry.
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.
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. Semba Tohka Industries needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Food Processing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Semba Tohka Industries 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Semba Tohka Industries has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Food Processing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Semba Tohka Industries needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Food Processing 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.
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 Semba Tohka Industries business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Semba Tohka Industries 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 Food Processing industry and other sectors.
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 Semba Tohka Industries.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries 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 Semba Tohka Industries needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.