TAS Offshore Bhd (TSOF) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for TAS Offshore Bhd (Malaysia)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , TAS Offshore Bhd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TAS Offshore Bhd

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

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Strengths of TAS Offshore Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of TAS Offshore Bhd are -

Learning organization

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

Analytics focus

– TAS Offshore Bhd 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 Water Transportation 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.

Training and development

– TAS Offshore Bhd has one of the best training and development program in Transportation 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– TAS Offshore Bhd is one of the leading players in the Water Transportation 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.

Innovation driven organization

– TAS Offshore Bhd is one of the most innovative firm in Water Transportation sector.

Ability to lead change in Water Transportation

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

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

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of TAS Offshore Bhd in Water Transportation industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Highly skilled collaborators

– TAS Offshore Bhd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Water Transportation industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of TAS Offshore Bhd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Water Transportation industry

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

High brand equity

– TAS Offshore Bhd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled TAS Offshore Bhd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Strong track record of project management in the Water Transportation industry

– TAS Offshore 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.

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Weaknesses of TAS Offshore Bhd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of TAS Offshore Bhd are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at TAS Offshore Bhd, in the dynamic environment of Water Transportation industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. TAS Offshore Bhd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Low market penetration in new markets

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

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

Employees’ less understanding of TAS Offshore Bhd strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of TAS Offshore 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 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 TAS Offshore Bhd supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, TAS Offshore Bhd is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left TAS Offshore Bhd vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Need for greater diversity

– TAS Offshore 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 decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, TAS Offshore 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 Water Transportation industry over the last five years. TAS Offshore 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.

High dependence on TAS Offshore Bhd ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of TAS Offshore Bhd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Water Transportation industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though TAS Offshore Bhd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Lack of clear differentiation of TAS Offshore Bhd products

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

Aligning sales with marketing

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

Skills based hiring in Water Transportation industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at TAS Offshore 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.

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TAS Offshore Bhd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of TAS Offshore Bhd are -

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for TAS Offshore 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects TAS Offshore Bhd 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 Water Transportation industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. TAS Offshore Bhd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, TAS Offshore Bhd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TAS Offshore Bhd can utilize new technology in the field of Water Transportation industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Buying journey improvements

– TAS Offshore Bhd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Water Transportation 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Water Transportation industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for TAS Offshore Bhd in the Water Transportation industry. Now TAS Offshore Bhd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at TAS Offshore 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 Water Transportation industry.

Leveraging digital technologies

– TAS Offshore 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, TAS Offshore 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 TAS Offshore 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, TAS Offshore 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of TAS Offshore Bhd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Water Transportation industry. This can help TAS Offshore Bhd to build a more holistic ecosystem for TAS Offshore Bhd products in the Water Transportation industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. TAS Offshore Bhd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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Threats TAS Offshore Bhd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of TAS Offshore Bhd are -

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 TAS Offshore Bhd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 TAS Offshore Bhd in the Water Transportation sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Water Transportation industry are lowering. It can presents TAS Offshore Bhd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Water Transportation sector.

Increasing wage structure of TAS Offshore 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 TAS Offshore Bhd.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, TAS Offshore 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 TAS Offshore Bhd prominent markets.

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. TAS Offshore 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.

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. TAS Offshore Bhd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Transportation industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– TAS Offshore 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 Water Transportation 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for TAS Offshore Bhd in Water Transportation industry. The Water Transportation 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.

Environmental challenges

– TAS Offshore 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. TAS Offshore Bhd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Water Transportation industry.

Consumer confidence and its impact on TAS Offshore 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 Water Transportation industry and other sectors.

Easy access to finance

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

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of TAS Offshore Bhd Template, Example

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

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