SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Startia Inc (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Startia Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Startia Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Startia Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Startia Inc operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Startia Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Startia Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Startia Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Office Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Startia Inc
Strengths of Startia Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Startia Inc are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Startia Inc in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Startia Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Startia Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Startia Inc has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Startia Inc to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Office Equipment
– Startia Inc is one of the leading players in the Office Equipment industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Office Equipment industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Startia Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Startia Inc in Office Equipment industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Startia Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Office Equipment industry. This has provided Startia Inc a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Startia Inc are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Startia Inc
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Startia Inc does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Startia Inc has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Startia Inc has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Office Equipment industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Startia Inc have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Startia Inc has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Startia Inc staying ahead in the Office Equipment industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Startia Inc is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the Office Equipment 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.
Learning organization
- Startia Inc 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 Startia Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Startia Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Startia Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Startia Inc are -
Employees’ less understanding of Startia Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Startia Inc don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Startia Inc is just above the Office Equipment industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Office Equipment industry, Startia Inc 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 Office Equipment industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Startia Inc 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Startia Inc needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Startia Inc products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Startia Inc needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Startia Inc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Startia Inc to provide better information regarding Office Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Office Equipment industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Startia Inc 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 Office Equipment industry.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Startia Inc has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Office Equipment industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Startia Inc has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Office Equipment industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Startia Inc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Office Equipment industry, but Startia Inc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Startia Inc to focus more on services in the Office Equipment industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Startia Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Startia Inc are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Startia Inc in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Office Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Startia Inc 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Startia Inc 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Office Equipment industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Startia Inc can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Startia Inc can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help Startia Inc to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Startia Inc to increase its market reach. Startia Inc 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Office Equipment industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Startia Inc in the Office Equipment industry. Now Startia Inc can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Startia Inc can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Office Equipment 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Startia Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Office Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Startia Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Startia Inc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Startia Inc can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Startia Inc can develop new processes and procedures in Office Equipment 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Startia Inc 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 Startia Inc to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Startia Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Office Equipment industry. This can help Startia Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Startia Inc products in the Office Equipment industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Startia Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Startia Inc are -
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Startia Inc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Startia Inc can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate Startia Inc prominent markets.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Startia Inc demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Office Equipment industry and other sectors.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Startia Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Office Equipment industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Startia Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Office Equipment 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 Startia Inc 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 Startia Inc in the Office Equipment sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Startia Inc needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Startia Inc can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Office Equipment 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Startia Inc 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 Office Equipment industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Startia Inc may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Office Equipment sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Startia Inc is facing in Office Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Startia Inc
– 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 Startia Inc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Startia Inc high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Startia Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Startia Inc needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of Startia Inc is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of Startia Inc is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Startia Inc to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Startia Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.