SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for S.Ishimitsu & (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , S.Ishimitsu & is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that S.Ishimitsu & can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the S.Ishimitsu &, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of S.Ishimitsu &
2. Improving business portfolio management of S.Ishimitsu &
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Personal & Household Prods. sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of S.Ishimitsu &
Strengths of S.Ishimitsu & | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of S.Ishimitsu & are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– S.Ishimitsu & has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled S.Ishimitsu & to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. The sustainable margins have also helped S.Ishimitsu & to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of S.Ishimitsu & in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. S.Ishimitsu & has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps S.Ishimitsu & to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– S.Ishimitsu & has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Personal & Household Prods. industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of S.Ishimitsu & have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu &
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing S.Ishimitsu & does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– S.Ishimitsu & is present in almost all the verticals within the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This has provided S.Ishimitsu & 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.
Analytics focus
– S.Ishimitsu & 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 Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the S.Ishimitsu & 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– S.Ishimitsu & has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – S.Ishimitsu & staying ahead in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– S.Ishimitsu & has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Learning organization
- S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at S.Ishimitsu & emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of S.Ishimitsu & comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Weaknesses of S.Ishimitsu & | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of S.Ishimitsu & are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, S.Ishimitsu & 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though S.Ishimitsu & has some of the most successful models in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. S.Ishimitsu & should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on S.Ishimitsu & ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of S.Ishimitsu & still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Personal & Household Prods. industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though S.Ishimitsu & has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of S.Ishimitsu & products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, S.Ishimitsu & needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– S.Ishimitsu & 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that S.Ishimitsu & needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Personal & Household Prods. industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at S.Ishimitsu & can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as S.Ishimitsu & is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, S.Ishimitsu & has high operating costs in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract S.Ishimitsu & lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, S.Ishimitsu & is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help S.Ishimitsu & to provide better information regarding Personal & Household Prods. products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As S.Ishimitsu & is one of the leading players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in last five years.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of S.Ishimitsu & is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, but S.Ishimitsu & needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help S.Ishimitsu & to focus more on services in the Personal & Household Prods. industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of S.Ishimitsu &, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Personal & Household Prods. 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.
S.Ishimitsu & Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of S.Ishimitsu & are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, S.Ishimitsu & is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. S.Ishimitsu & can utilize new technology in the field of Personal & Household Prods. industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– S.Ishimitsu & can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. S.Ishimitsu & 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. S.Ishimitsu & 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.
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 S.Ishimitsu & 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, S.Ishimitsu & 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Personal & Household Prods. industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. S.Ishimitsu & can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– S.Ishimitsu & can develop new processes and procedures in Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects S.Ishimitsu & can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– S.Ishimitsu & has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Personal & Household Prods. sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled S.Ishimitsu & to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help S.Ishimitsu & to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at S.Ishimitsu & can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for S.Ishimitsu & in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats S.Ishimitsu & External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of S.Ishimitsu & are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on S.Ishimitsu & 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry and other sectors.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for S.Ishimitsu & in Personal & Household Prods. industry. The Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– S.Ishimitsu & 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Environmental challenges
– S.Ishimitsu & 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. S.Ishimitsu & can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– S.Ishimitsu & has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, S.Ishimitsu & needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
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. S.Ishimitsu & needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 S.Ishimitsu & business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that S.Ishimitsu & is facing in Personal & Household Prods. sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– S.Ishimitsu & 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.
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 S.Ishimitsu & in the Personal & Household Prods. sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. S.Ishimitsu & 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Personal & Household Prods. industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. S.Ishimitsu & can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of S.Ishimitsu & Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & 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 S.Ishimitsu & needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.