Marshall Motor Holdings PLC (MMHM) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Business Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Marshall Motor Holdings PLC (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Marshall Motor Holdings PLC, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC
2. Improving business portfolio management of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Business Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC
Strengths of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC are -
Learning organization
- Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Marshall Motor Holdings PLC emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is one of the most innovative firm in Business Services sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is one of the leading players in the Business Services 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Marshall Motor 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Business Services industry
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Business Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Marshall Motor Holdings PLC digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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 Business Services industry
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Business Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Business Services
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is one of the leading players in the Business Services industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Business Services industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Marshall Motor Holdings PLC in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Marshall Motor Holdings PLC does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Business Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, Marshall Motor 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 Business Services industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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 Business Services industry using digital technology.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Marshall Motor Holdings PLC needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Business Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ less understanding of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Marshall Motor 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Business 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Marshall Motor Holdings PLC, in the dynamic environment of Business Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Business Services industry, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United Kingdom, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring in Business Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Business 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.
Marshall Motor Holdings PLC Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Marshall Motor 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Marshall Motor 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Marshall Motor 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Marshall Motor Holdings PLC operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Business Services sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Business Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Business Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Marshall Motor Holdings PLC in the Business Services industry. Now Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Business Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Business Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Marshall Motor 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can utilize new technology in the field of Business Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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 Business Services industry.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Marshall Motor Holdings PLC to increase its market reach. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Marshall Motor 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 Business Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Marshall Motor Holdings PLC External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Marshall Motor Holdings PLC is facing in Business Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Marshall Motor 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 Business Services industry and other sectors.
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. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Business Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Marshall Motor 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 Business Services sector.
Environmental challenges
– Marshall Motor Holdings PLC 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. Marshall Motor Holdings PLC can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Business Services industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Business Services industry are lowering. It can presents Marshall Motor Holdings PLC with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Business Services sector.
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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC in the Business Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Marshall Motor Holdings PLC in Business Services industry. The Business 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Marshall Motor 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marshall Motor Holdings PLC Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor 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 Marshall Motor Holdings PLC needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.