Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Quartix Holdings PLC is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Quartix Holdings PLC
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Quartix Holdings PLC can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Quartix Holdings PLC, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Quartix Holdings PLC
2. Improving business portfolio management of Quartix Holdings PLC
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Communications Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Quartix Holdings PLC
Strengths of Quartix Holdings PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Quartix Holdings PLC are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Quartix Holdings PLC in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Quartix Holdings PLC has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Quartix Holdings PLC to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Quartix Holdings PLC has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Quartix Holdings PLC to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Quartix Holdings PLC is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Equipment sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communications Equipment industry
– Quartix Holdings PLC has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Quartix Holdings PLC to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communications Equipment industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Quartix Holdings PLC to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Quartix Holdings PLC is one of the leading players in the Communications Equipment 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Quartix Holdings PLC is present in almost all the verticals within the Communications Equipment industry. This has provided Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Quartix Holdings PLC comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Communications Equipment 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.
Ability to lead change in Communications Equipment
– Quartix Holdings PLC is one of the leading players in the Communications Equipment industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Communications Equipment industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Quartix Holdings PLC in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Learning organization
- Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Quartix Holdings PLC emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Weaknesses of Quartix Holdings PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Quartix Holdings PLC are -
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 Quartix Holdings PLC supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Quartix Holdings PLC is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Quartix Holdings PLC vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Quartix Holdings PLC strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Quartix Holdings PLC, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Communications Equipment 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Quartix Holdings PLC has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Communications Equipment industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on Quartix Holdings PLC ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Quartix Holdings PLC still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Communications Equipment industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Quartix Holdings PLC has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Quartix Holdings PLC is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communications Equipment industry, but Quartix Holdings PLC needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Quartix Holdings PLC to focus more on services in the Communications Equipment industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Quartix Holdings PLC, in the dynamic environment of Communications Equipment industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Quartix Holdings PLC has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Quartix Holdings PLC has some of the most successful models in the Communications Equipment industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Quartix Holdings PLC should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Communications Equipment industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Communications Equipment industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Quartix Holdings PLC has high operating costs in the Communications Equipment industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Quartix Holdings PLC lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Quartix Holdings PLC needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Communications Equipment industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Quartix Holdings PLC can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Quartix Holdings PLC is planning to shift buying processes online.
Quartix Holdings PLC Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Quartix Holdings PLC are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Quartix Holdings PLC in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communications Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Quartix Holdings PLC has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Communications Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Quartix Holdings PLC to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Quartix Holdings PLC to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communications Equipment industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Quartix Holdings PLC can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Quartix Holdings PLC has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Communications Equipment industry. This can help Quartix Holdings PLC to build a more holistic ecosystem for Quartix Holdings PLC products in the Communications Equipment industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
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. Quartix Holdings PLC can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Quartix Holdings PLC 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, Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Quartix Holdings PLC can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Communications Equipment 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Quartix Holdings PLC is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Quartix Holdings PLC can utilize new technology in the field of Communications Equipment industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Quartix Holdings PLC External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Quartix Holdings PLC are -
Regulatory challenges
– Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Communications Equipment industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communications Equipment industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Quartix Holdings PLC can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Quartix Holdings PLC in the Communications Equipment sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Quartix Holdings PLC 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.
Increasing wage structure of Quartix Holdings PLC
– 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 Quartix Holdings PLC.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Communications Equipment industry and other sectors.
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.
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 Quartix Holdings PLC.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Quartix Holdings PLC has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communications Equipment industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Quartix Holdings PLC needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communications Equipment 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, Quartix Holdings PLC may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communications Equipment sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Communications Equipment industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Quartix Holdings PLC Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC 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 Quartix Holdings PLC needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.