Dart Group (DTG) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Airline
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Dart Group (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Dart Group is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Dart Group can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dart Group, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dart Group 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 Dart Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Dart Group
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dart Group
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Airline sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Dart Group
Strengths of Dart Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dart Group are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dart Group has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dart Group 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.
Learning organization
- Dart Group 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 Dart Group is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Dart Group emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dart Group 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dart Group in the Transportation sector have low bargaining power. Dart Group has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dart Group to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Dart Group is one of the most innovative firm in Airline sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dart Group is one of the leading players in the Airline industry in United Kingdom. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United Kingdom. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Dart Group 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 Airline industry. The technology infrastructure of United Kingdom 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.
Digital Transformation in Airline industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dart Group digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dart Group 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 Airline industry
– Dart Group has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dart Group to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Airline industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dart Group to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dart Group is present in almost all the verticals within the Airline industry. This has provided Dart Group 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 lead change in Airline
– Dart Group is one of the leading players in the Airline industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Airline industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Dart Group in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Dart Group has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dart Group to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Dart Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dart Group are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Dart Group, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Airline 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 Airline industry, Dart Group 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dart Group has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Airline industry over the last five years. Dart Group 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dart Group has some of the most successful models in the Airline industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Dart Group should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Dart Group needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Airline industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Dart Group can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dart Group is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on Dart Group ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Dart Group still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Airline industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Dart Group has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Dart Group 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 Dart Group is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Airline industry, but Dart Group needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dart Group to focus more on services in the Airline industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ less understanding of Dart Group strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Dart Group 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Dart Group is one of the leading players in the Airline industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Airline industry in last five years.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Dart Group is just above the Airline 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.
Dart Group Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Dart Group are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dart Group has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Airline sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Dart Group to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dart Group to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Dart Group can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Airline 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Dart Group 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dart Group can develop new processes and procedures in Airline 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dart Group to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dart Group has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Airline industry. This can help Dart Group to build a more holistic ecosystem for Dart Group products in the Airline industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dart Group is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Dart Group can utilize new technology in the field of Airline industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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. Dart Group can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Airline industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Dart Group 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. Dart Group 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dart Group to increase its market reach. Dart Group 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Dart Group can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Airline 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dart Group 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 Dart Group to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Dart Group 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.
Threats Dart Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Dart Group are -
Regulatory challenges
– Dart Group 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 Airline industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dart Group is facing in Airline sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Dart Group in the Airline sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dart Group 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 Airline industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Dart Group
– 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 Dart Group.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dart Group 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.
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 Dart Group.
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. Dart Group 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.
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 Dart Group business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dart Group has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Airline industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dart Group needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Airline 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dart Group in Airline industry. The Airline 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.
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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dart Group Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Dart Group 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 Dart Group 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 Dart Group 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 Dart Group 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 Dart Group needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.