PipeHawk (PHWK) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Aerospace & Defense
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for PipeHawk (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , PipeHawk is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that PipeHawk can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the PipeHawk, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of PipeHawk
2. Improving business portfolio management of PipeHawk
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Aerospace & Defense sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of PipeHawk
Strengths of PipeHawk | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of PipeHawk are -
Diverse revenue streams
– PipeHawk is present in almost all the verticals within the Aerospace & Defense industry. This has provided PipeHawk 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.
Training and development
– PipeHawk has one of the best training and development program in Capital Goods 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– PipeHawk has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. PipeHawk 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Aerospace & Defense industry
– PipeHawk has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled PipeHawk to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Aerospace & Defense industry. The sustainable margins have also helped PipeHawk to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Aerospace & Defense industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For PipeHawk digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. PipeHawk 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.
High brand equity
– PipeHawk has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled PipeHawk to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of PipeHawk in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. PipeHawk has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps PipeHawk to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at PipeHawk emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– PipeHawk has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Aerospace & Defense industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of PipeHawk have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Aerospace & Defense
– PipeHawk is one of the leading players in the Aerospace & Defense industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Aerospace & Defense industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled PipeHawk in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the PipeHawk 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.
Analytics focus
– PipeHawk 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 Aerospace & Defense 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.
Weaknesses of PipeHawk | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PipeHawk are -
High dependence on PipeHawk ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of PipeHawk still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Aerospace & Defense industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though PipeHawk has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of PipeHawk products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, PipeHawk needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though PipeHawk has some of the most successful models in the Aerospace & Defense industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. PipeHawk should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ less understanding of PipeHawk strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of PipeHawk 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
PipeHawk has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Aerospace & Defense 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 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 PipeHawk supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, PipeHawk is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left PipeHawk vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, PipeHawk 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 Aerospace & Defense industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– PipeHawk 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of PipeHawk is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Aerospace & Defense industry, but PipeHawk needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help PipeHawk to focus more on services in the Aerospace & Defense industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Aerospace & Defense industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, PipeHawk 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 Aerospace & Defense industry.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, PipeHawk has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Aerospace & Defense industry over the last five years. PipeHawk 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.
PipeHawk Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of PipeHawk are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of PipeHawk has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Aerospace & Defense industry. This can help PipeHawk to build a more holistic ecosystem for PipeHawk products in the Aerospace & Defense industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– PipeHawk 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– PipeHawk has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Aerospace & Defense sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled PipeHawk to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help PipeHawk to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– PipeHawk can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Aerospace & Defense 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at PipeHawk 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 Aerospace & Defense industry.
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. PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– PipeHawk can develop new processes and procedures in Aerospace & Defense 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help PipeHawk to increase its market reach. PipeHawk 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.
Loyalty marketing
– PipeHawk 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.
Manufacturing automation
– PipeHawk can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Aerospace & Defense sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Aerospace & Defense industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. PipeHawk 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. PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of PipeHawk are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– PipeHawk 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 Aerospace & Defense industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for PipeHawk in Aerospace & Defense industry. The Aerospace & Defense 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.
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. PipeHawk 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– PipeHawk 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that PipeHawk is facing in Aerospace & Defense sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, PipeHawk may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Aerospace & Defense sector.
Environmental challenges
– PipeHawk 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. PipeHawk can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Aerospace & Defense industry.
Regulatory challenges
– PipeHawk 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 Aerospace & Defense 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 PipeHawk in the Aerospace & Defense 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 PipeHawk.
Increasing wage structure of PipeHawk
– 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 PipeHawk.
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. PipeHawk needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Aerospace & Defense industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of PipeHawk Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk 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 PipeHawk needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.