M J Gleeson Group (GLEG) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Construction Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for M J Gleeson Group (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , M J Gleeson Group is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of M J Gleeson Group
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that M J Gleeson Group can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the M J Gleeson Group, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of M J Gleeson Group
2. Improving business portfolio management of M J Gleeson Group
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Construction Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of M J Gleeson Group
Strengths of M J Gleeson Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of M J Gleeson Group are -
Ability to lead change in Construction Services
– M J Gleeson Group is one of the leading players in the Construction Services industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Construction Services industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled M J Gleeson Group in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of M J Gleeson Group
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing M J Gleeson Group does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– M J Gleeson Group has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled M J Gleeson Group to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– M J Gleeson Group has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – M J Gleeson Group staying ahead in the Construction Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– M J Gleeson Group has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. M J Gleeson 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of M J Gleeson Group in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. M J Gleeson Group has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps M J Gleeson Group to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– M J Gleeson Group is one of the most innovative firm in Construction Services sector.
Analytics focus
– M J Gleeson 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 Construction Services 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.
Learning organization
- M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson Group is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at M J Gleeson Group emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– M J Gleeson Group has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Construction Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of M J Gleeson Group have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Construction Services industry
– M J Gleeson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of M J Gleeson Group in Construction Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of M J Gleeson Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of M J Gleeson Group are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
M J Gleeson Group has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Construction Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Need for greater diversity
– M J Gleeson 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As M J Gleeson Group is one of the leading players in the Construction Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Construction Services industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, M J Gleeson Group 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 Construction Services industry using digital technology.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, M J Gleeson Group has high operating costs in the Construction Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract M J Gleeson Group lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that M J Gleeson Group needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Construction Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at M J Gleeson Group can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as M J Gleeson Group is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, M J Gleeson 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 Construction Services industry over the last five years. M J Gleeson 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of M J Gleeson Group is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Construction Services industry, but M J Gleeson Group needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help M J Gleeson Group to focus more on services in the Construction Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of M J Gleeson Group, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Construction Services 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, M J Gleeson 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though M J Gleeson Group has some of the most successful models in the Construction Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. M J Gleeson Group should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
M J Gleeson Group Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of M J Gleeson Group are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for M J Gleeson 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.
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 M J Gleeson 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.
Buying journey improvements
– M J Gleeson Group can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Construction 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– M J Gleeson Group has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Construction Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled M J Gleeson Group to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help M J Gleeson Group to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help M J Gleeson Group to increase its market reach. M J Gleeson 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at M J Gleeson Group 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 Construction Services industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Construction Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for M J Gleeson Group in the Construction Services industry. Now M J Gleeson Group can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, M J Gleeson 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of M J Gleeson Group has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Construction Services industry. This can help M J Gleeson Group to build a more holistic ecosystem for M J Gleeson Group products in the Construction Services 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, M J Gleeson Group can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that M J Gleeson Group operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Construction Services sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects M J Gleeson Group can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– M J Gleeson 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 Construction Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. M J Gleeson 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. M J Gleeson 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.
Threats M J Gleeson Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of M J Gleeson Group are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Construction Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. M J Gleeson Group can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that M J Gleeson Group is facing in Construction Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– M J Gleeson Group has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Construction Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, M J Gleeson Group needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Construction Services 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, M J Gleeson Group may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Construction Services sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, M J Gleeson Group 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 M J Gleeson Group prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Construction Services industry are lowering. It can presents M J Gleeson Group with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Construction Services sector.
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 M J Gleeson Group.
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. M J Gleeson Group needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Construction Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson Group.
Regulatory challenges
– M J Gleeson 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 Construction Services industry regulations.
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 M J Gleeson Group in the Construction Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for M J Gleeson Group in Construction Services industry. The Construction Services 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.
Environmental challenges
– M J Gleeson 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. M J Gleeson Group can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Construction Services industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of M J Gleeson Group Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson 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 M J Gleeson Group needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.