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 – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, 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 -
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dart Group has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Airline industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Dart Group have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
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.
Strong track record of project management in the Airline industry
– Dart Group is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Dart Group comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Airline 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.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Dart Group
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Dart Group does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
Weaknesses of Dart Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dart Group are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dart Group 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Airline industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, Dart Group 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 Airline industry.
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.
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.
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.
Skills based hiring in Airline industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dart Group 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.
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.
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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United Kingdom, Dart Group needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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.
Dart Group Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Dart Group are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dart Group 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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dart Group 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 Dart Group to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dart Group can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dart Group operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Airline sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dart Group can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dart Group in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Airline industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dart Group 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.
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.
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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Airline industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Dart Group 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, 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.
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.
Threats Dart Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Dart Group are -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Airline industry are lowering. It can presents Dart Group with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Airline sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Airline industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Dart Group can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Dart Group 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. Dart Group can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Airline industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dart Group 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 Airline industry.
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.
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.