Suiwah Corporation Bhd (SWAH) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Retail (Department & Discount)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Suiwah Corporation Bhd (Malaysia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Suiwah Corporation Bhd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Suiwah Corporation Bhd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Suiwah Corporation Bhd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Suiwah Corporation Bhd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Suiwah 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Suiwah Corporation Bhd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Suiwah Corporation Bhd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Retail (Department & Discount) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Suiwah Corporation Bhd
Strengths of Suiwah Corporation Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Suiwah Corporation Bhd are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Suiwah 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Suiwah 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. This has provided Suiwah 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Suiwah Corporation Bhd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Learning organization
- Suiwah 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Suiwah Corporation Bhd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd 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.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Suiwah Corporation Bhd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Suiwah 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd is one of the most innovative firm in Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Organizational Resilience of Suiwah Corporation Bhd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Suiwah Corporation Bhd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Suiwah Corporation 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.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Department & Discount)
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Suiwah Corporation 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Suiwah Corporation Bhd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Suiwah Corporation Bhd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Suiwah Corporation Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Suiwah Corporation Bhd are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Suiwah Corporation Bhd has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Need for greater diversity
– Suiwah 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Suiwah Corporation Bhd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Suiwah Corporation Bhd to provide better information regarding Retail (Department & Discount) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Suiwah Corporation 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.
High dependence on Suiwah Corporation Bhd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Suiwah Corporation Bhd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Retail (Department & Discount) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Suiwah Corporation Bhd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Malaysia, Suiwah Corporation 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Suiwah Corporation Bhd, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Department & Discount) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Suiwah Corporation Bhd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Suiwah Corporation Bhd is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Suiwah Corporation Bhd vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Suiwah Corporation Bhd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Suiwah Corporation Bhd 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Suiwah Corporation Bhd has high operating costs in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Suiwah Corporation Bhd lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Malaysia, Suiwah Corporation Bhd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Suiwah Corporation Bhd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Suiwah Corporation Bhd are -
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. Suiwah Corporation Bhd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Suiwah 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. Suiwah 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Department & Discount) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Suiwah Corporation Bhd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Suiwah 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Suiwah Corporation Bhd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Suiwah Corporation Bhd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Suiwah 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
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 Suiwah Corporation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Suiwah Corporation Bhd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Suiwah 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Suiwah 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 Suiwah 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.
Threats Suiwah Corporation Bhd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Suiwah Corporation Bhd are -
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.
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. Suiwah Corporation Bhd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Department & Discount) 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Suiwah 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd prominent markets.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Suiwah Corporation Bhd 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 (Department & Discount) industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Suiwah Corporation 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Suiwah 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Suiwah Corporation 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Department & Discount) industry are lowering. It can presents Suiwah Corporation Bhd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
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. Suiwah 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Suiwah 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 Retail (Department & Discount) 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Suiwah Corporation Bhd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Suiwah 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 Suiwah 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 Suiwah 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 Suiwah 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 Suiwah Corporation Bhd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.