Techfast (TCHF) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Techfast (Malaysia)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Techfast is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, 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, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Techfast

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Techfast can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Techfast, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Techfast 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 Techfast can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Techfast
2. Improving business portfolio management of Techfast
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Computer Hardware sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Techfast

---

Strengths of Techfast | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Techfast are -

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Techfast 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Techfast is present in almost all the verticals within the Computer Hardware industry. This has provided Techfast 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.

Ability to lead change in Computer Hardware

– Techfast is one of the leading players in the Computer Hardware industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Computer Hardware industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Techfast in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Digital Transformation in Computer Hardware industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Techfast digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Techfast 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 Techfast comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Computer Hardware 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.

Analytics focus

– Techfast is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the Computer Hardware industry. The technology infrastructure of Malaysia is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Techfast has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Techfast 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Techfast has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Techfast staying ahead in the Computer Hardware industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Strong track record of project management in the Computer Hardware industry

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

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Innovation driven organization

– Techfast is one of the most innovative firm in Computer Hardware sector.

Organizational Resilience of Techfast

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Techfast does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

---

---

Weaknesses of Techfast | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Techfast are -

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Techfast is just above the Computer Hardware 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.

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 Techfast supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Techfast is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Techfast vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Techfast needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Computer Hardware industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Techfast can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Techfast is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Techfast 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 Computer Hardware industry using digital technology.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Techfast has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Computer Hardware industry over the last five years. Techfast 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Computer Hardware industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Malaysia, Techfast 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 Computer Hardware industry.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Techfast is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Computer Hardware industry, but Techfast needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Techfast to focus more on services in the Computer Hardware industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Products dominated business model

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

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Computer Hardware industry, Techfast 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Techfast 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

– Techfast 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.

---

Techfast Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Techfast are -

Buying journey improvements

– Techfast can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Computer Hardware industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Techfast 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.

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. Techfast can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Techfast 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 Computer Hardware industry.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Techfast to increase its market reach. Techfast 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

Manufacturing automation

– Techfast can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Computer Hardware 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Techfast can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Computer Hardware industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Techfast 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, Techfast 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 Techfast 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.

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 Techfast 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

– Techfast 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.

---

Threats Techfast External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Techfast are -

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Techfast may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Computer Hardware sector.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Techfast 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 Techfast prominent markets.

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 Techfast in the Computer Hardware sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Techfast 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.

Environmental challenges

– Techfast 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. Techfast can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Computer Hardware industry.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Computer Hardware industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Techfast can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Techfast.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Techfast 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 Computer Hardware industry.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Techfast 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 Computer Hardware industry and other sectors.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Techfast has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Hardware industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Techfast needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer Hardware 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Techfast is facing in Computer Hardware sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Increasing wage structure of Techfast

– 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 Techfast.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Techfast 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.

---

Weighted SWOT Analysis of Techfast Template, Example

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

--- ---