TIME Dotcom (TCOM) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Communications Services
Strategy / 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 – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
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.
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
Strengths of TIME Dotcom | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of TIME Dotcom are -
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.
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.
Training and development
– TIME Dotcom has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the TIME Dotcom 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– TIME Dotcom has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Communications Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of TIME Dotcom have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
Ability to lead change in Communications Services
– TIME Dotcom is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Communications Services industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled TIME Dotcom in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
Innovation driven organization
– TIME Dotcom is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Services sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of TIME Dotcom in the Services sector have low bargaining power. TIME Dotcom has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps TIME Dotcom to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
Weaknesses of TIME Dotcom | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TIME Dotcom are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that TIME Dotcom needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Communications Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at TIME Dotcom can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as TIME Dotcom is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, TIME Dotcom has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Communications Services industry over the last five years. TIME Dotcom 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.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, TIME Dotcom 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.
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.
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.
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.
Need for greater diversity
– TIME Dotcom 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.
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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As TIME Dotcom is one of the leading players in the Communications Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Communications Services industry in last five years.
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.
TIME Dotcom Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of TIME Dotcom are -
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Communications Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for TIME Dotcom in the Communications Services industry. Now TIME Dotcom can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– TIME Dotcom 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for TIME Dotcom 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 TIME Dotcom to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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 wage structure of TIME Dotcom
– 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 TIME Dotcom.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for TIME Dotcom in Communications Services industry. The Communications Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, TIME Dotcom may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communications Services sector.
Environmental challenges
– TIME Dotcom 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. TIME Dotcom can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communications Services industry.
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.
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.
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 TIME Dotcom in the Communications Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– TIME Dotcom 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.
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.
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.