SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Suzuyo Shinwart (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Suzuyo Shinwart is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Suzuyo Shinwart can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Suzuyo Shinwart, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Suzuyo Shinwart
2. Improving business portfolio management of Suzuyo Shinwart
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Software & Programming sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Suzuyo Shinwart
Strengths of Suzuyo Shinwart | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Suzuyo Shinwart are -
Training and development
– Suzuyo Shinwart has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Analytics focus
– Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Software & Programming 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Suzuyo Shinwart in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Suzuyo Shinwart has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Suzuyo Shinwart to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Suzuyo Shinwart
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Suzuyo Shinwart does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Suzuyo Shinwart is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming 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.
Ability to lead change in Software & Programming
– Suzuyo Shinwart is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Software & Programming industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Suzuyo Shinwart in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Software & Programming industry
– Suzuyo Shinwart has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Suzuyo Shinwart to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Software & Programming industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Suzuyo Shinwart to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Suzuyo Shinwart comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Software & Programming 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Suzuyo Shinwart in Software & Programming industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Suzuyo Shinwart has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Suzuyo Shinwart to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Suzuyo Shinwart emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Suzuyo Shinwart | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Suzuyo Shinwart are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Suzuyo Shinwart has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Software & Programming industry over the last five years. Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Software & Programming industry, Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Suzuyo Shinwart needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Software & Programming industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Suzuyo Shinwart can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Suzuyo Shinwart is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Suzuyo Shinwart is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Software & Programming industry in last five years.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Suzuyo Shinwart is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Suzuyo Shinwart to provide better information regarding Software & Programming products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Suzuyo Shinwart needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Suzuyo Shinwart has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Software & Programming industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Suzuyo Shinwart has some of the most successful models in the Software & Programming industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Suzuyo Shinwart should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Software & Programming industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Software & Programming industry.
Skills based hiring in Software & Programming industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Suzuyo Shinwart Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Suzuyo Shinwart are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Suzuyo Shinwart has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Software & Programming sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Suzuyo Shinwart to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Suzuyo Shinwart can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Software & Programming 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Suzuyo Shinwart in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Software & Programming industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Suzuyo Shinwart is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Suzuyo Shinwart can utilize new technology in the field of Software & Programming industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Software & Programming industry.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Suzuyo Shinwart can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Suzuyo Shinwart has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Software & Programming industry. This can help Suzuyo Shinwart to build a more holistic ecosystem for Suzuyo Shinwart products in the Software & Programming industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Suzuyo Shinwart can develop new processes and procedures in Software & Programming 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Suzuyo Shinwart to increase its market reach. Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Software & Programming industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Suzuyo Shinwart 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. Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Threats Suzuyo Shinwart External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Suzuyo Shinwart are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart prominent markets.
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. Suzuyo Shinwart needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Software & Programming industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Suzuyo Shinwart.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Software & Programming industry are lowering. It can presents Suzuyo Shinwart with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Software & Programming sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Suzuyo Shinwart in Software & Programming industry. The Software & Programming 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.
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. Suzuyo Shinwart 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Software & Programming industry and other sectors.
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 Suzuyo Shinwart in the Software & Programming sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Suzuyo Shinwart 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. Suzuyo Shinwart can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Software & Programming industry.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Suzuyo Shinwart is facing in Software & Programming sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Software & Programming industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Suzuyo Shinwart Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart 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 Suzuyo Shinwart needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.