Kyodo Public Relations (2436) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Kyodo Public Relations (Japan)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Kyodo Public Relations is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kyodo Public Relations

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Kyodo Public Relations can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kyodo Public Relations, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kyodo Public Relations 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 Kyodo Public Relations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Kyodo Public Relations
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kyodo Public Relations
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 Kyodo Public Relations

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Strengths of Kyodo Public Relations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Kyodo Public Relations are -

Analytics focus

– Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Kyodo Public Relations is present in almost all the verticals within the Business Services industry. This has provided Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Business Services industry

– Kyodo Public Relations has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kyodo Public Relations to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Business Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kyodo Public Relations to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Kyodo Public Relations in Business Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Kyodo Public Relations 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 Kyodo Public Relations have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Learning organization

- Kyodo Public Relations 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 Kyodo Public Relations is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Kyodo Public Relations emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Organizational Resilience of Kyodo Public Relations

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Kyodo Public Relations does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Strong track record of project management in the Business Services industry

– Kyodo Public Relations is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Digital Transformation in Business Services industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kyodo Public Relations digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kyodo Public Relations 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

– Kyodo Public Relations 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.

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Weaknesses of Kyodo Public Relations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Kyodo Public Relations are -

Need for greater diversity

– Kyodo Public Relations has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

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 Kyodo Public Relations supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Kyodo Public Relations is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kyodo Public Relations vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ less understanding of Kyodo Public Relations strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Kyodo Public Relations 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.

High dependence on Kyodo Public Relations ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Kyodo Public Relations still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Business Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Kyodo Public Relations has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Kyodo Public Relations 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 Business Services industry using digital technology.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Kyodo Public Relations has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Business Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Lack of clear differentiation of Kyodo Public Relations products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kyodo Public Relations needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Kyodo Public Relations is one of the leading players in the Business Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Business Services industry in last five years.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Kyodo Public Relations is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Business Services industry, but Kyodo Public Relations needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kyodo Public Relations to focus more on services in the Business Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Kyodo Public Relations 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.

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Kyodo Public Relations Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Kyodo Public Relations are -

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kyodo Public Relations to increase its market reach. Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kyodo Public Relations can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kyodo Public Relations operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Business Services sector.

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. Kyodo Public Relations can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kyodo Public Relations 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 Kyodo Public Relations to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kyodo Public Relations to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Buying journey improvements

– Kyodo Public Relations can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Business Services 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Business Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kyodo Public Relations can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Kyodo Public Relations has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Business Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Kyodo Public Relations to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kyodo Public Relations to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Reforming the budgeting process

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

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Kyodo Public Relations has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Business Services industry. This can help Kyodo Public Relations to build a more holistic ecosystem for Kyodo Public Relations products in the Business Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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Threats Kyodo Public Relations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Kyodo Public Relations are -

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Kyodo Public Relations 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 Business Services industry.

Increasing wage structure of Kyodo Public Relations

– 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 Kyodo Public Relations.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Kyodo Public Relations has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Business Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Kyodo Public Relations will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Regulatory challenges

– Kyodo Public Relations 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 Business Services industry regulations.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Kyodo Public Relations 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.

Environmental challenges

– Kyodo Public Relations 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. Kyodo Public Relations can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Business Services industry.

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. Kyodo Public Relations 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 Kyodo Public Relations 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.

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 Kyodo Public Relations.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kyodo Public Relations 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 Kyodo Public Relations prominent markets.

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 Kyodo Public Relations in the Business Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Kyodo Public Relations is facing in Business Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kyodo Public Relations Template, Example

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

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