SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Izu Shaboten Resort (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Izu Shaboten Resort is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Izu Shaboten Resort
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Izu Shaboten Resort can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Izu Shaboten Resort, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Izu Shaboten Resort
2. Improving business portfolio management of Izu Shaboten Resort
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Recreational Activities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Izu Shaboten Resort
Strengths of Izu Shaboten Resort | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Izu Shaboten Resort are -
Innovation driven organization
– Izu Shaboten Resort is one of the most innovative firm in Recreational Activities sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Izu Shaboten Resort is one of the leading players in the Recreational Activities 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Izu Shaboten Resort 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)
– Izu Shaboten Resort has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Izu Shaboten Resort staying ahead in the Recreational Activities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Recreational Activities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Izu Shaboten Resort digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Izu Shaboten Resort 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Izu Shaboten Resort has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Recreational Activities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Izu Shaboten Resort have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Recreational Activities industry
– Izu Shaboten Resort is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Izu Shaboten Resort has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Izu Shaboten Resort 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 brand equity
– Izu Shaboten Resort has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Izu Shaboten Resort to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Izu Shaboten Resort is present in almost all the verticals within the Recreational Activities industry. This has provided Izu Shaboten Resort 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Izu Shaboten Resort in Recreational Activities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Izu Shaboten Resort comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Recreational Activities 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 Izu Shaboten Resort | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Izu Shaboten Resort are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Izu Shaboten Resort, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Recreational Activities 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Recreational Activities industry, Izu Shaboten Resort needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Izu Shaboten Resort is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Izu Shaboten Resort to provide better information regarding Recreational Activities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Izu Shaboten Resort is just above the Recreational Activities industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on Izu Shaboten Resort ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Izu Shaboten Resort still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Recreational Activities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Izu Shaboten Resort has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Izu Shaboten Resort is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Recreational Activities industry, but Izu Shaboten Resort needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Izu Shaboten Resort to focus more on services in the Recreational Activities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Izu Shaboten Resort products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Izu Shaboten Resort needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Izu Shaboten Resort needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Recreational Activities industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Izu Shaboten Resort can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Izu Shaboten Resort is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Izu Shaboten Resort has some of the most successful models in the Recreational Activities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Izu Shaboten Resort should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ less understanding of Izu Shaboten Resort strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Recreational Activities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Recreational Activities industry.
Izu Shaboten Resort Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Izu Shaboten Resort are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Izu Shaboten Resort can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Recreational Activities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Izu Shaboten Resort can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Izu Shaboten Resort is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Izu Shaboten Resort can utilize new technology in the field of Recreational Activities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Izu Shaboten Resort in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Recreational Activities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Recreational Activities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Izu Shaboten Resort 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. Izu Shaboten Resort 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Recreational Activities industry.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Izu Shaboten Resort can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Izu Shaboten Resort operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Recreational Activities sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Izu Shaboten Resort 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.
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. Izu Shaboten Resort can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Izu Shaboten Resort can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Recreational Activities 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Izu Shaboten Resort to increase its market reach. Izu Shaboten Resort 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.
Threats Izu Shaboten Resort External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Izu Shaboten Resort are -
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 Izu Shaboten Resort in the Recreational Activities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Izu Shaboten Resort.
Increasing wage structure of Izu Shaboten Resort
– 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 Izu Shaboten Resort.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Izu Shaboten Resort may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Recreational Activities sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Recreational Activities industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Recreational Activities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Izu Shaboten Resort can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Izu Shaboten Resort 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Recreational Activities industry are lowering. It can presents Izu Shaboten Resort with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Recreational Activities sector.
Environmental challenges
– Izu Shaboten Resort 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. Izu Shaboten Resort can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Recreational Activities industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Izu Shaboten Resort in Recreational Activities industry. The Recreational Activities 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
– Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Recreational Activities industry.
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. Izu Shaboten Resort needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Recreational Activities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Izu Shaboten Resort Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort 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 Izu Shaboten Resort needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.