Business Breakthrough (2464) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Schools
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Business Breakthrough (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Business Breakthrough is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Business Breakthrough
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Business Breakthrough can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Business Breakthrough, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Business Breakthrough
2. Improving business portfolio management of Business Breakthrough
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Schools sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Business Breakthrough
Strengths of Business Breakthrough | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Business Breakthrough are -
Organizational Resilience of Business Breakthrough
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Business Breakthrough does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Business Breakthrough is one of the most innovative firm in Schools sector.
Ability to lead change in Schools
– Business Breakthrough is one of the leading players in the Schools industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Schools industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Business Breakthrough in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Schools industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Business Breakthrough digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Business Breakthrough 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.
High brand equity
– Business Breakthrough has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Business Breakthrough to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Business Breakthrough has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Business Breakthrough 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Business Breakthrough is present in almost all the verticals within the Schools industry. This has provided Business Breakthrough 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Business Breakthrough has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Business Breakthrough staying ahead in the Schools industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Business Breakthrough is one of the leading players in the Schools industry in Japan. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Japan. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Business Breakthrough emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Business Breakthrough in Schools industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Business Breakthrough 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.
Weaknesses of Business Breakthrough | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Business Breakthrough are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Business Breakthrough needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Schools industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Business Breakthrough can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Business Breakthrough is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Business Breakthrough has some of the most successful models in the Schools industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Business Breakthrough should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Business Breakthrough 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, Business Breakthrough has high operating costs in the Schools industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Business Breakthrough lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Business Breakthrough is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Business Breakthrough to provide better information regarding Schools 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 Business Breakthrough supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Business Breakthrough is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Business Breakthrough vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Business Breakthrough, in the dynamic environment of Schools industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Business Breakthrough has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Business Breakthrough is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Schools industry, but Business Breakthrough needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Business Breakthrough to focus more on services in the Schools industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ less understanding of Business Breakthrough strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Business Breakthrough 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Schools industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Business Breakthrough 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 Schools industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Business Breakthrough products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Business Breakthrough needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Business Breakthrough Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Business Breakthrough are -
Buying journey improvements
– Business Breakthrough can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Schools 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough to increase its market reach. Business Breakthrough 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Business Breakthrough can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Schools 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Business Breakthrough is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Business Breakthrough can utilize new technology in the field of Schools industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Business Breakthrough 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Business Breakthrough has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Schools industry. This can help Business Breakthrough to build a more holistic ecosystem for Business Breakthrough products in the Schools industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Schools industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Business Breakthrough in the Schools industry. Now Business Breakthrough can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Business Breakthrough can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Business Breakthrough 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Business Breakthrough in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Schools industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Schools industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Business Breakthrough can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Business Breakthrough External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Business Breakthrough are -
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 Business Breakthrough business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Business Breakthrough 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 Schools industry.
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 Business Breakthrough in the Schools sector and impact the bottomline 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. Business Breakthrough needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Schools industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Business Breakthrough 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Business Breakthrough 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 Schools industry and other sectors.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Schools industry are lowering. It can presents Business Breakthrough with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Schools sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Business Breakthrough in Schools industry. The Schools industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing wage structure of Business Breakthrough
– 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 Business Breakthrough.
Regulatory challenges
– Business Breakthrough 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 Schools industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Business Breakthrough 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. Business Breakthrough can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Schools industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Business Breakthrough Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough 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 Business Breakthrough needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
