Malakoff Corporation Bhd (MALA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Electric Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Malakoff Corporation Bhd (Malaysia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Malakoff Corporation Bhd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, technology disruption,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Malakoff Corporation Bhd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Malakoff Corporation Bhd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Malakoff Corporation Bhd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Malakoff Corporation Bhd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Malakoff Corporation Bhd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Electric Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Malakoff Corporation Bhd
Strengths of Malakoff Corporation Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Malakoff Corporation Bhd are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Malakoff Corporation Bhd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Electric Utilities 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.
Digital Transformation in Electric Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Malakoff Corporation Bhd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Electric Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Malakoff Corporation Bhd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Malakoff Corporation Bhd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Training and development
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd has one of the best training and development program in Utilities 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd is present in almost all the verticals within the Electric Utilities industry. This has provided Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Malakoff Corporation Bhd in Electric Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Electric Utilities
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electric Utilities industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Malakoff Corporation Bhd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Malakoff Corporation Bhd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Malakoff Corporation Bhd are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Malakoff Corporation Bhd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Electric Utilities 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Malakoff Corporation Bhd is just above the Electric Utilities 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Malakoff Corporation Bhd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electric Utilities industry, but Malakoff Corporation Bhd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Malakoff Corporation Bhd to focus more on services in the Electric Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Malakoff Corporation Bhd has some of the most successful models in the Electric Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Malakoff Corporation Bhd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Malakoff Corporation Bhd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Electric Utilities industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Malakoff Corporation Bhd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Malakoff Corporation Bhd is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Electric Utilities industry, Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
High dependence on Malakoff Corporation Bhd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Malakoff Corporation Bhd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electric Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Malakoff Corporation Bhd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Malakoff Corporation Bhd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Malakoff Corporation Bhd to provide better information regarding Electric Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Electric Utilities industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Malakoff Corporation Bhd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Electric Utilities industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Malakoff Corporation Bhd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Malakoff Corporation Bhd are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Malakoff Corporation Bhd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Malakoff Corporation Bhd can utilize new technology in the field of Electric Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Malakoff Corporation Bhd can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Electric Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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. Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Electric Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Malakoff Corporation Bhd in the Electric Utilities industry. Now Malakoff Corporation Bhd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Electric Utilities industry.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Electric Utilities 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd can develop new processes and procedures in Electric Utilities 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Malakoff Corporation Bhd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Electric Utilities industry. This can help Malakoff Corporation Bhd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Malakoff Corporation Bhd products in the Electric Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Electric Utilities 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, Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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, Malakoff Corporation Bhd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Malakoff Corporation Bhd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electric Utilities sector.
Threats Malakoff Corporation Bhd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Malakoff Corporation Bhd are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Electric Utilities industry and other sectors.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Malakoff Corporation Bhd may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Electric Utilities sector.
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. Malakoff Corporation Bhd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Electric Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd in the Electric Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Electric Utilities industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electric Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Malakoff Corporation Bhd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electric Utilities sector.
Environmental challenges
– Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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. Malakoff Corporation Bhd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Electric Utilities industry.
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.
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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Electric Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Malakoff Corporation Bhd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Malakoff Corporation Bhd is facing in Electric Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Malakoff Corporation Bhd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd 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 Malakoff Corporation Bhd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
