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Sougou Shouken (7850) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Sougou Shouken (Japan)


Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Sougou Shouken is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sougou Shouken


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Sougou Shouken can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sougou Shouken, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sougou Shouken 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 Sougou Shouken can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Sougou Shouken
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sougou Shouken
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Printing Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sougou Shouken




Strengths of Sougou Shouken | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Sougou Shouken are -

Ability to lead change in Printing Services

– Sougou Shouken is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Printing Services industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Sougou Shouken in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Sougou Shouken 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.

High brand equity

– Sougou Shouken has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sougou Shouken to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Organizational Resilience of Sougou Shouken

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Sougou Shouken 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 Printing Services industry

– Sougou Shouken 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

– Sougou Shouken has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sougou Shouken 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 Sougou Shouken 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Sougou Shouken has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Printing Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Sougou Shouken have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Diverse revenue streams

– Sougou Shouken is present in almost all the verticals within the Printing Services industry. This has provided Sougou Shouken 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Sougou Shouken is one of the leading players in the Printing Services 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Printing Services industry

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

Analytics focus

– Sougou Shouken 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 Printing 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.






Weaknesses of Sougou Shouken | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Sougou Shouken are -

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sougou Shouken has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Printing Services industry over the last five years. Sougou Shouken even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Need for greater diversity

– Sougou Shouken 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Printing Services industry, Sougou Shouken 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Sougou Shouken 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 Printing Services industry using digital technology.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Sougou Shouken 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Japan, Sougou Shouken needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Sougou Shouken needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Printing Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Sougou Shouken can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sougou Shouken is planning to shift buying processes online.

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

Lack of clear differentiation of Sougou Shouken products

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

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Sougou Shouken has high operating costs in the Printing Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Sougou Shouken lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Sougou Shouken is just above the Printing 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.




Sougou Shouken Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities of Sougou Shouken are -

Manufacturing automation

– Sougou Shouken can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Printing Services 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, Sougou Shouken is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sougou Shouken can utilize new technology in the field of Printing Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sougou Shouken 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

– Sougou Shouken 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Sougou Shouken 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 Printing Services industry.

Buying journey improvements

– Sougou Shouken can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Printing 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.

Creating value in data economy

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

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Printing Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sougou Shouken 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. Sougou Shouken 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

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. Sougou Shouken can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

Increase in government spending

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

Reforming the budgeting process

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




Threats Sougou Shouken External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats of Sougou Shouken are -

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 Sougou Shouken.

Environmental challenges

– Sougou Shouken 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. Sougou Shouken can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Printing Services industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Sougou Shouken may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Printing Services sector.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Sougou Shouken 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 Printing Services industry and other sectors.

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 Sougou Shouken in the Printing Services 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. Sougou Shouken needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Printing Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Sougou Shouken 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Printing Services industry are lowering. It can presents Sougou Shouken with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Printing Services sector.

Increasing wage structure of Sougou Shouken

– 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 Sougou Shouken.

Shortening product life cycle

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

Regulatory challenges

– Sougou Shouken 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 Printing Services industry regulations.

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 Sougou Shouken business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sougou Shouken Template, Example


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



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