P.A. Resources Bhd (PARB) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for P.A. Resources Bhd (Malaysia)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , P.A. Resources Bhd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of P.A. Resources Bhd

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

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

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

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Strengths of P.A. Resources Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of P.A. Resources Bhd are -

Ability to lead change in Metal Mining

– P.A. Resources Bhd is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Metal Mining industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled P.A. Resources Bhd 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 Metal Mining industry

– P.A. Resources Bhd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled P.A. Resources Bhd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Metal Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped P.A. Resources Bhd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of P.A. Resources Bhd in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. P.A. Resources Bhd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps P.A. Resources Bhd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Metal Mining industry

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– P.A. Resources Bhd is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– P.A. Resources Bhd is present in almost all the verticals within the Metal Mining industry. This has provided P.A. Resources 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.

Training and development

– P.A. Resources Bhd has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials 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.

Strong track record of project management in the Metal Mining industry

– P.A. Resources Bhd is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of P.A. Resources Bhd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Metal Mining 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that P.A. Resources 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.

Learning organization

- P.A. Resources 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 P.A. Resources Bhd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at P.A. Resources Bhd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Innovation driven organization

– P.A. Resources Bhd is one of the most innovative firm in Metal Mining sector.

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Weaknesses of P.A. Resources Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of P.A. Resources Bhd are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Malaysia, P.A. Resources Bhd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of P.A. Resources Bhd products

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

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Metal Mining industry, P.A. Resources 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.

Skills based hiring in Metal Mining industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at P.A. Resources Bhd 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, P.A. Resources 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 Metal Mining industry using digital technology.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

High bargaining power of channel partners in Metal Mining industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Malaysia, P.A. Resources Bhd 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 Metal Mining industry.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of P.A. Resources Bhd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Metal Mining 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though P.A. Resources Bhd has some of the most successful models in the Metal Mining industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. P.A. Resources Bhd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, P.A. Resources Bhd has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Metal Mining industry over the last five years. P.A. Resources Bhd 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of P.A. Resources Bhd is just above the Metal Mining 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.

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P.A. Resources Bhd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of P.A. Resources Bhd are -

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, P.A. Resources 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for P.A. Resources 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for P.A. Resources 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 P.A. Resources Bhd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help P.A. Resources Bhd to increase its market reach. P.A. Resources Bhd 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– P.A. Resources Bhd can develop new processes and procedures in Metal Mining 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for P.A. Resources Bhd in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Metal Mining industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of P.A. Resources Bhd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Metal Mining industry. This can help P.A. Resources Bhd to build a more holistic ecosystem for P.A. Resources Bhd products in the Metal Mining industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at P.A. Resources 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 Metal Mining industry.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Metal Mining industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. P.A. Resources 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. P.A. Resources 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.

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help P.A. Resources Bhd to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

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. P.A. Resources Bhd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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Threats P.A. Resources Bhd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of P.A. Resources Bhd are -

Environmental challenges

– P.A. Resources 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. P.A. Resources Bhd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Metal Mining industry.

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.

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 P.A. Resources Bhd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing wage structure of P.A. Resources Bhd

– 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 P.A. Resources Bhd.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, P.A. Resources 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 P.A. Resources Bhd prominent markets.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that P.A. Resources Bhd is facing in Metal Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– P.A. Resources Bhd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Metal Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, P.A. Resources Bhd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Metal Mining 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– P.A. Resources Bhd 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.

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. P.A. Resources 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on P.A. Resources 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 Metal Mining industry and other sectors.

Regulatory challenges

– P.A. Resources 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 Metal Mining industry regulations.

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 P.A. Resources Bhd in the Metal Mining sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, P.A. Resources 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 Metal Mining sector.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of P.A. Resources Bhd Template, Example

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

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