SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Fraser Neave (Malaysia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Fraser Neave is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Fraser Neave can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fraser Neave, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Fraser Neave
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fraser Neave
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Fraser Neave
Strengths of Fraser Neave | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fraser Neave are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fraser Neave has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fraser Neave 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.
Learning organization
- Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Fraser Neave emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Fraser Neave has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fraser Neave to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Fraser Neave
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Fraser Neave does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fraser Neave has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Fraser Neave have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fraser Neave in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fraser Neave is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry in Malaysia. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Malaysia. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fraser Neave digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fraser Neave 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.
Ability to lead change in Beverages (Nonalcoholic)
– Fraser Neave is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Fraser Neave in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry
– Fraser Neave is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Fraser Neave comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Fraser Neave is one of the most innovative firm in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
Weaknesses of Fraser Neave | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fraser Neave are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry, Fraser Neave 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Fraser Neave has some of the most successful models in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Fraser Neave should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fraser Neave is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Fraser Neave to provide better information regarding Beverages (Nonalcoholic) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Fraser Neave supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Fraser Neave is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fraser Neave vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Fraser Neave strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Fraser Neave 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 Malaysia, Fraser Neave needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Fraser Neave, in the dynamic environment of Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fraser Neave has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fraser Neave 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Fraser Neave has high operating costs in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Fraser Neave lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry, but Fraser Neave needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fraser Neave to focus more on services in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Fraser Neave Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Fraser Neave are -
Manufacturing automation
– Fraser Neave can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fraser Neave has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Fraser Neave to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fraser Neave to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fraser Neave 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. Fraser Neave 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fraser Neave 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 Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fraser Neave 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fraser Neave to increase its market reach. Fraser Neave 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fraser Neave has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. This can help Fraser Neave to build a more holistic ecosystem for Fraser Neave products in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fraser Neave can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fraser Neave operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Fraser Neave 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Fraser Neave can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Fraser Neave can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Fraser Neave 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.
Threats Fraser Neave External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Fraser Neave are -
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 Fraser Neave business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Fraser Neave 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.
Environmental challenges
– Fraser Neave 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. Fraser Neave can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fraser Neave is facing in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Fraser Neave
– 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 Fraser Neave.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fraser Neave in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. The Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fraser Neave 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 Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fraser Neave 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 Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry and other sectors.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Fraser Neave may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Fraser Neave can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Fraser Neave needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fraser Neave Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave 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 Fraser Neave needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.