Cycle Carriage Bintang (CYCB) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Retail (Specialty)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Cycle Carriage Bintang (Malaysia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Cycle Carriage Bintang is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cycle Carriage Bintang
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Cycle Carriage Bintang can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cycle Carriage Bintang, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Cycle Carriage Bintang
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cycle Carriage Bintang
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Retail (Specialty) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cycle Carriage Bintang
Strengths of Cycle Carriage Bintang | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cycle Carriage Bintang are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cycle Carriage Bintang is one of the leading players in the Retail (Specialty) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cycle Carriage Bintang has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Specialty) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Cycle Carriage Bintang have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Specialty) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cycle Carriage Bintang digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Cycle Carriage Bintang comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Specialty) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cycle Carriage Bintang in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Cycle Carriage Bintang has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cycle Carriage Bintang to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Cycle Carriage Bintang has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cycle Carriage Bintang to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cycle Carriage Bintang is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Specialty) industry. This has provided Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Specialty) industry
– Cycle Carriage Bintang is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cycle Carriage Bintang has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cycle Carriage Bintang
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Cycle Carriage Bintang does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Specialty)
– Cycle Carriage Bintang is one of the leading players in the Retail (Specialty) industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Specialty) industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Cycle Carriage Bintang in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Specialty) industry
– Cycle Carriage Bintang has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cycle Carriage Bintang to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Specialty) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cycle Carriage Bintang to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Cycle Carriage Bintang | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cycle Carriage Bintang are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cycle Carriage Bintang is one of the leading players in the Retail (Specialty) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Specialty) industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring in Retail (Specialty) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Specialty) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Malaysia, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 (Specialty) industry.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Cycle Carriage Bintang is just above the Retail (Specialty) 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Specialty) industry, but Cycle Carriage Bintang needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cycle Carriage Bintang to focus more on services in the Retail (Specialty) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cycle Carriage Bintang is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Cycle Carriage Bintang to provide better information regarding Retail (Specialty) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Cycle Carriage Bintang needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Retail (Specialty) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Cycle Carriage Bintang can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cycle Carriage Bintang is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Malaysia, Cycle Carriage Bintang needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Specialty) industry, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cycle Carriage Bintang products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cycle Carriage Bintang needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 (Specialty) industry using digital technology.
Cycle Carriage Bintang Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Cycle Carriage Bintang are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cycle Carriage Bintang can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cycle Carriage Bintang to increase its market reach. Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
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. Cycle Carriage Bintang can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cycle Carriage Bintang is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cycle Carriage Bintang can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Specialty) 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Cycle Carriage Bintang can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Retail (Specialty) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Specialty) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Cycle Carriage Bintang in the Retail (Specialty) industry. Now Cycle Carriage Bintang can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cycle Carriage Bintang can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Specialty) 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Specialty) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cycle Carriage Bintang 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. Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cycle Carriage Bintang has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Retail (Specialty) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Cycle Carriage Bintang to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cycle Carriage Bintang to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Cycle Carriage Bintang External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Cycle Carriage Bintang are -
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. Cycle Carriage Bintang 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cycle Carriage Bintang in Retail (Specialty) industry. The Retail (Specialty) 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.
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 Cycle Carriage Bintang in the Retail (Specialty) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Cycle Carriage Bintang
– 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cycle Carriage Bintang is facing in Retail (Specialty) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Cycle Carriage Bintang.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 (Specialty) sector.
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 Cycle Carriage Bintang business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Retail (Specialty) 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Retail (Specialty) industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Specialty) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cycle Carriage Bintang can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cycle Carriage Bintang Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang 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 Cycle Carriage Bintang needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.