TIME Dotcom (TCOM) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for TIME Dotcom (Malaysia)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , TIME Dotcom is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TIME Dotcom

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that TIME Dotcom can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the TIME Dotcom, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which TIME Dotcom 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of TIME Dotcom can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of TIME Dotcom
2. Improving business portfolio management of TIME Dotcom
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Communications Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of TIME Dotcom

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Strengths of TIME Dotcom | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of TIME Dotcom are -

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communications Services industry

– TIME Dotcom has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled TIME Dotcom to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communications Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped TIME Dotcom to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– TIME Dotcom has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – TIME Dotcom staying ahead in the Communications Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to recruit top talent

– TIME Dotcom is one of the leading players in the Communications Services 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 Communications Services industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For TIME Dotcom digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. TIME Dotcom 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.

Learning organization

- TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at TIME Dotcom emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of TIME Dotcom in Communications Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Diverse revenue streams

– TIME Dotcom is present in almost all the verticals within the Communications Services industry. This has provided TIME Dotcom 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that TIME Dotcom 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.

Organizational Resilience of TIME Dotcom

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing TIME Dotcom does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of TIME Dotcom comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Communications Services 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– TIME Dotcom has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. TIME Dotcom 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.

High brand equity

– TIME Dotcom has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled TIME Dotcom to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

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Weaknesses of TIME Dotcom | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of TIME Dotcom are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at TIME Dotcom, in the dynamic environment of Communications Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. TIME Dotcom has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Communications Services industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Malaysia, TIME Dotcom is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Communications Services industry.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, TIME Dotcom has high operating costs in the Communications Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract TIME Dotcom lucrative customers.

Employees’ less understanding of TIME Dotcom strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of TIME Dotcom 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Communications Services industry, TIME Dotcom 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of TIME Dotcom is just above the Communications Services industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, TIME Dotcom is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help TIME Dotcom to provide better information regarding Communications Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Lack of clear differentiation of TIME Dotcom products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, TIME Dotcom needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of TIME Dotcom is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communications Services industry, but TIME Dotcom needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help TIME Dotcom to focus more on services in the Communications Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

TIME Dotcom has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Communications 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.

High dependence on TIME Dotcom ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of TIME Dotcom still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Communications Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though TIME Dotcom has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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TIME Dotcom Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of TIME Dotcom are -

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Communications Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. TIME Dotcom 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. TIME Dotcom 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.

Manufacturing automation

– TIME Dotcom can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communications Services 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.

Buying journey improvements

– TIME Dotcom can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Communications Services 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help TIME Dotcom to increase its market reach. TIME Dotcom 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, TIME Dotcom can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that TIME Dotcom operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communications Services sector.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, TIME Dotcom is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TIME Dotcom can utilize new technology in the field of Communications Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for TIME Dotcom 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.

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. TIME Dotcom can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at TIME Dotcom 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 Communications Services industry.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– TIME Dotcom has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Communications Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled TIME Dotcom to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help TIME Dotcom to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for TIME Dotcom in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communications Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects TIME Dotcom can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communications Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. TIME Dotcom can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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Threats TIME Dotcom External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of TIME Dotcom are -

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom prominent markets.

Consumer confidence and its impact on TIME Dotcom demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Communications Services industry and other sectors.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Communications Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. TIME Dotcom 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. TIME Dotcom needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communications Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Regulatory challenges

– TIME Dotcom needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Communications Services industry regulations.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– TIME Dotcom has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communications Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, TIME Dotcom needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communications Services sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Communications Services industry are lowering. It can presents TIME Dotcom with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Communications Services sector.

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. TIME Dotcom 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.

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 TIME Dotcom.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– TIME Dotcom can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the Communications Services industry.

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 TIME Dotcom business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 TIME Dotcom is facing in Communications Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of TIME Dotcom Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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