eMnet Japan (7036) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Advertising
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for eMnet Japan (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , eMnet Japan is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that eMnet Japan can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the eMnet Japan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of eMnet Japan
2. Improving business portfolio management of eMnet Japan
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Advertising sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of eMnet Japan
Strengths of eMnet Japan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of eMnet Japan are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Advertising industry
– eMnet Japan has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled eMnet Japan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Advertising industry. The sustainable margins have also helped eMnet Japan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– eMnet Japan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled eMnet Japan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– eMnet Japan is present in almost all the verticals within the Advertising industry. This has provided eMnet Japan 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.
Digital Transformation in Advertising industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For eMnet Japan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. eMnet Japan 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the eMnet Japan 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.
Ability to lead change in Advertising
– eMnet Japan is one of the leading players in the Advertising industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Advertising industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled eMnet Japan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– eMnet Japan is one of the leading players in the Advertising 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Advertising industry
– eMnet Japan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of eMnet Japan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing eMnet Japan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– eMnet Japan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. eMnet Japan 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that eMnet Japan 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– eMnet Japan has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – eMnet Japan staying ahead in the Advertising industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of eMnet Japan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of eMnet Japan are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in Advertising industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, eMnet Japan 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 Advertising industry.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of eMnet Japan is just above the Advertising 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.
Skills based hiring in Advertising industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at eMnet Japan has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, eMnet Japan needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, eMnet Japan 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 Advertising industry using digital technology.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of eMnet Japan, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Advertising 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.
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 eMnet Japan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, eMnet Japan is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left eMnet Japan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of eMnet Japan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, eMnet Japan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, eMnet Japan 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.
Need for greater diversity
– eMnet Japan 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of eMnet Japan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Advertising industry, but eMnet Japan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help eMnet Japan to focus more on services in the Advertising industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
eMnet Japan Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of eMnet Japan are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Advertising industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. eMnet Japan 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. eMnet Japan 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– eMnet Japan has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Advertising sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled eMnet Japan to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help eMnet Japan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 eMnet Japan 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for eMnet Japan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Advertising industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at eMnet Japan 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 Advertising industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Advertising industry. This can help eMnet Japan to build a more holistic ecosystem for eMnet Japan products in the Advertising industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects eMnet Japan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help eMnet Japan to increase its market reach. eMnet Japan 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, eMnet Japan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that eMnet Japan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Advertising sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– eMnet Japan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Advertising 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, eMnet Japan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. eMnet Japan can utilize new technology in the field of Advertising industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats eMnet Japan External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of eMnet Japan are -
Regulatory challenges
– eMnet Japan 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 Advertising industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that eMnet Japan is facing in Advertising sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. eMnet Japan 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– eMnet Japan 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.
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.
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 eMnet Japan in the Advertising sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– eMnet Japan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Advertising industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, eMnet Japan needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Advertising 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 eMnet Japan
– 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 eMnet Japan.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Advertising industry are lowering. It can presents eMnet Japan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Advertising sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan prominent markets.
Consumer confidence and its impact on eMnet Japan 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 Advertising 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 eMnet Japan in Advertising industry. The Advertising 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.
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. eMnet Japan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Advertising industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of eMnet Japan Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan 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 eMnet Japan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.