SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Bonia Corp (Malaysia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bonia Corp is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bonia Corp can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bonia Corp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bonia Corp
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bonia Corp
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Retail (Apparel) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bonia Corp
Strengths of Bonia Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bonia Corp are -
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Apparel) industry
– Bonia Corp is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Bonia Corp 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.
High brand equity
– Bonia Corp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bonia Corp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bonia Corp is one of the leading players in the Retail (Apparel) 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)
– Bonia Corp has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Bonia Corp staying ahead in the Retail (Apparel) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Bonia Corp emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bonia Corp is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Apparel) industry. This has provided Bonia Corp 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Bonia Corp comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Apparel) 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.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Apparel)
– Bonia Corp is one of the leading players in the Retail (Apparel) industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Apparel) industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Bonia Corp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Bonia Corp
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Bonia Corp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Apparel) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bonia Corp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bonia Corp has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bonia Corp 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.
Weaknesses of Bonia Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bonia Corp are -
Employees’ less understanding of Bonia Corp strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Bonia Corp 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Bonia Corp, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Apparel) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bonia Corp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Malaysia, Bonia Corp needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bonia Corp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bonia Corp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bonia Corp has some of the most successful models in the Retail (Apparel) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Bonia Corp should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Bonia Corp supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Bonia Corp is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bonia Corp vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bonia Corp is one of the leading players in the Retail (Apparel) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Apparel) industry in last five years.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bonia Corp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Apparel) industry, but Bonia Corp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bonia Corp to focus more on services in the Retail (Apparel) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Bonia Corp needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Retail (Apparel) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Bonia Corp can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bonia Corp is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bonia Corp 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 Retail (Apparel) industry using digital technology.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Apparel) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Malaysia, Bonia Corp 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 Retail (Apparel) industry.
Bonia Corp Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bonia Corp are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Bonia Corp can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Apparel) 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 Bonia Corp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Apparel) industry. This can help Bonia Corp to build a more holistic ecosystem for Bonia Corp products in the Retail (Apparel) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bonia Corp 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Apparel) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bonia Corp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bonia Corp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bonia Corp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Retail (Apparel) sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bonia Corp is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bonia Corp can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Apparel) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bonia Corp has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Retail (Apparel) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Bonia Corp to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bonia Corp to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bonia Corp to increase its market reach. Bonia Corp 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Apparel) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bonia Corp in the Retail (Apparel) industry. Now Bonia Corp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Bonia Corp can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Retail (Apparel) 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bonia Corp 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.
Threats Bonia Corp External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bonia Corp are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bonia Corp is facing in Retail (Apparel) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Bonia Corp 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. Bonia Corp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Apparel) industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Apparel) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bonia Corp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Bonia Corp in the Retail (Apparel) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Bonia Corp 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 Retail (Apparel) industry regulations.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Apparel) industry are lowering. It can presents Bonia Corp with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Apparel) sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bonia Corp may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Retail (Apparel) sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp prominent markets.
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 Bonia Corp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Bonia Corp needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Apparel) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Bonia Corp.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bonia Corp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Apparel) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bonia Corp needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Apparel) 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bonia Corp Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp 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 Bonia Corp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.