SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Water Transportation sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha
Strengths of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha in the Transportation sector have low bargaining power. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is one of the leading players in the Water Transportation 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 Water Transportation industry
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Water Transportation 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.
Learning organization
- Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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)
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha staying ahead in the Water Transportation industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is one of the most innovative firm in Water Transportation sector.
High brand equity
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Water Transportation industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Water Transportation industry
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Water Transportation industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Water Transportation industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring in Water Transportation industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to provide better information regarding Water Transportation products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Water Transportation industry, but Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to focus more on services in the Water Transportation industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Water Transportation industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Water Transportation industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Water Transportation industry, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has some of the most successful models in the Water Transportation industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Water Transportation industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to increase its market reach. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can utilize new technology in the field of Water Transportation 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, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Water Transportation industry. This can help Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to build a more holistic ecosystem for Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha products in the Water Transportation industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Water Transportation sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Water Transportation sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Water Transportation industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Water Transportation industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Water Transportation industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha in the Water Transportation industry. Now Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha are -
Environmental challenges
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Water Transportation industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Water Transportation sector.
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. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha is facing in Water Transportation sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Water Transportation industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Water Transportation 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Water Transportation industry and other sectors.
Regulatory challenges
– Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Water Transportation industry regulations.
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. Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Transportation 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha in Water Transportation industry. The Water Transportation 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha 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 Hyoki Kaiun Kaisha needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.