Ross Group PLC (RGP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Electronic Instr. & Controls
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Ross Group PLC (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Ross Group PLC is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Ross Group PLC can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ross Group PLC, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Ross Group PLC
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ross Group PLC
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Electronic Instr. & Controls sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ross Group PLC
Strengths of Ross Group PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ross Group PLC are -
High brand equity
– Ross Group PLC has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ross Group PLC to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ross Group PLC has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Ross Group PLC have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
– Ross Group PLC has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ross Group PLC to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ross Group PLC to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ross Group PLC in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Ross Group PLC has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ross Group PLC to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Electronic Instr. & Controls
– Ross Group PLC is one of the leading players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Ross Group PLC in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Ross Group PLC is one of the most innovative firm in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ross Group PLC has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Ross Group PLC staying ahead in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Ross Group PLC emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ross Group PLC is one of the leading players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Training and development
– Ross Group 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ross Group 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ross Group PLC are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Ross Group PLC, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Electronic Instr. & Controls 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 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 Ross Group PLC supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Ross Group PLC is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ross Group PLC vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ross Group PLC is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, but Ross Group PLC needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ross Group PLC to focus more on services in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ross Group 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ross Group PLC products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ross Group PLC needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Ross Group PLC needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Ross Group PLC can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ross Group PLC is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Ross Group PLC, in the dynamic environment of Electronic Instr. & Controls industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ross Group PLC has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ross Group PLC 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Ross Group PLC strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Ross Group 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United Kingdom, Ross Group PLC needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ross Group PLC has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Ross Group PLC Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Ross Group PLC are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ross Group PLC has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. This can help Ross Group PLC to build a more holistic ecosystem for Ross Group PLC products in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Ross Group PLC can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ross Group PLC 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ross Group 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ross Group 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ross Group PLC in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. Now Ross Group PLC can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ross Group 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 Ross Group 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ross Group PLC can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ross Group PLC operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
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. Ross Group PLC can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ross Group PLC to increase its market reach. Ross Group 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ross Group PLC can develop new processes and procedures in Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ross Group 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Ross Group PLC External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Ross Group PLC are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ross Group PLC in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. The Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Ross Group 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Increasing wage structure of Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC.
Regulatory challenges
– Ross Group 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electronic Instr. & Controls industry are lowering. It can presents Ross Group PLC with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ross Group PLC is facing in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ross Group PLC can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Ross Group PLC.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC prominent markets.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ross Group 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry and other sectors.
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. Ross Group 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.
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 Ross Group PLC in the Electronic Instr. & Controls sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ross Group PLC Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Ross Group 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 Ross Group 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 Ross Group 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 Ross Group 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 Ross Group PLC needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.