Fuji Soft Service Bureau (6188) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Fuji Soft Service Bureau (Japan)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Fuji Soft Service Bureau is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fuji Soft Service Bureau

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Fuji Soft Service Bureau can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fuji Soft Service Bureau, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Fuji Soft Service Bureau can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Fuji Soft Service Bureau
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fuji Soft Service Bureau
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Business Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Fuji Soft Service Bureau

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Strengths of Fuji Soft Service Bureau | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Fuji Soft Service Bureau are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Fuji Soft Service Bureau in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Fuji Soft Service Bureau has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fuji Soft Service Bureau to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

Training and development

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.

Ability to lead change in Business Services

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau is one of the leading players in the Business Services industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Business Services industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Fuji Soft Service Bureau in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Analytics focus

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Business Services 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

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fuji Soft Service Bureau to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Fuji Soft Service Bureau comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Business Services 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Fuji Soft Service Bureau in Business Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Business Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Fuji Soft Service Bureau have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Fuji Soft Service Bureau staying ahead in the Business Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau is present in almost all the verticals within the Business Services industry. This has provided Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

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Weaknesses of Fuji Soft Service Bureau | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Fuji Soft Service Bureau are -

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fuji Soft Service Bureau is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Fuji Soft Service Bureau to provide better information regarding Business Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Japan, Fuji Soft Service Bureau needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Fuji Soft Service Bureau, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Business Services 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Fuji Soft Service Bureau has some of the most successful models in the Business Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Fuji Soft Service Bureau should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Fuji Soft Service Bureau needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Business Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Fuji Soft Service Bureau can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fuji Soft Service Bureau is planning to shift buying processes online.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Business Services industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Business Services industry.

Employees’ less understanding of Fuji Soft Service Bureau strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau, in the dynamic environment of Business Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fuji Soft Service Bureau has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Fuji Soft Service Bureau is just above the Business Services 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Fuji Soft Service Bureau has high operating costs in the Business Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Fuji Soft Service Bureau lucrative customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

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Fuji Soft Service Bureau Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Fuji Soft Service Bureau are -

Manufacturing automation

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Business Services 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Business Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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. Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fuji Soft Service Bureau in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Business Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Business Services industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Fuji Soft Service Bureau in the Business Services industry. Now Fuji Soft Service Bureau can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

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. Fuji Soft Service Bureau can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Fuji Soft Service Bureau can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fuji Soft Service Bureau is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fuji Soft Service Bureau can utilize new technology in the field of Business Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

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Threats Fuji Soft Service Bureau External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Fuji Soft Service Bureau are -

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Business Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Fuji Soft Service Bureau can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Business Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fuji Soft Service Bureau needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Business Services sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Increasing wage structure of Fuji Soft Service Bureau

– 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau.

Environmental challenges

– Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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. Fuji Soft Service Bureau can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Business Services industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Fuji Soft Service Bureau may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Business Services sector.

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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau in the Business Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Fuji Soft Service Bureau needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Business Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Business Services industry and other sectors.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Business Services industry are lowering. It can presents Fuji Soft Service Bureau with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Business Services sector.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau prominent markets.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fuji Soft Service Bureau Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau 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 Fuji Soft Service Bureau needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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