Teo Guan Lee Corp (TGLB) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Apparel/Accessories
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Teo Guan Lee Corp (Malaysia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Teo Guan Lee Corp is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Teo Guan Lee Corp
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Teo Guan Lee Corp can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Teo Guan Lee Corp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Teo Guan Lee Corp
2. Improving business portfolio management of Teo Guan Lee Corp
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Malaysia
4. Making a Apparel/Accessories sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Teo Guan Lee Corp
Strengths of Teo Guan Lee Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Teo Guan Lee Corp are -
Innovation driven organization
– Teo Guan Lee Corp is one of the most innovative firm in Apparel/Accessories sector.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Teo Guan Lee Corp comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Apparel/Accessories 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Teo Guan Lee Corp has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Apparel/Accessories industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Teo Guan Lee Corp have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Apparel/Accessories industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Teo Guan Lee Corp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Ability to lead change in Apparel/Accessories
– Teo Guan Lee Corp is one of the leading players in the Apparel/Accessories industry in Malaysia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Apparel/Accessories industry in Malaysia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Apparel/Accessories industry
– Teo Guan Lee Corp has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Teo Guan Lee Corp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Apparel/Accessories industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Teo Guan Lee Corp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Teo Guan Lee Corp has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Teo Guan Lee Corp staying ahead in the Apparel/Accessories industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Teo Guan Lee Corp in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Teo Guan Lee Corp has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Teo Guan Lee Corp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Teo Guan Lee Corp is present in almost all the verticals within the Apparel/Accessories industry. This has provided Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
High brand equity
– Teo Guan Lee Corp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Teo Guan Lee Corp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Teo Guan Lee Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Teo Guan Lee Corp are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Teo Guan Lee Corp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Apparel/Accessories industry, but Teo Guan Lee Corp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Teo Guan Lee Corp to focus more on services in the Apparel/Accessories industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Teo Guan Lee Corp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Apparel/Accessories industry, Teo Guan Lee Corp 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, Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Teo Guan Lee Corp has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Apparel/Accessories industry over the last five years. Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Apparel/Accessories industry using digital technology.
High dependence on Teo Guan Lee Corp ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Teo Guan Lee Corp still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Apparel/Accessories industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Teo Guan Lee Corp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ less understanding of Teo Guan Lee Corp strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Teo Guan Lee Corp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Teo Guan Lee Corp to provide better information regarding Apparel/Accessories products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Teo Guan Lee Corp supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Teo Guan Lee Corp is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Teo Guan Lee Corp vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Teo Guan Lee Corp is one of the leading players in the Apparel/Accessories industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Apparel/Accessories industry in last five years.
Teo Guan Lee Corp Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Teo Guan Lee Corp are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Apparel/Accessories industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Teo Guan Lee Corp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Apparel/Accessories industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Teo Guan Lee Corp in the Apparel/Accessories industry. Now Teo Guan Lee Corp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Teo Guan Lee Corp can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Apparel/Accessories sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Teo Guan Lee Corp to increase its market reach. Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Teo Guan Lee Corp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Apparel/Accessories 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Teo Guan Lee Corp has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Apparel/Accessories sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Teo Guan Lee Corp to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Teo Guan Lee Corp to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Apparel/Accessories industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Teo Guan Lee Corp 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. Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Teo Guan Lee Corp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Apparel/Accessories industry. This can help Teo Guan Lee Corp to build a more holistic ecosystem for Teo Guan Lee Corp products in the Apparel/Accessories industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Teo Guan Lee Corp in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Apparel/Accessories industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Apparel/Accessories industry.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Teo Guan Lee Corp External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Teo Guan Lee Corp is facing in Apparel/Accessories sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Apparel/Accessories industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Teo Guan Lee Corp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Teo Guan Lee Corp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Apparel/Accessories industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Teo Guan Lee Corp needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Apparel/Accessories 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Teo Guan Lee Corp in Apparel/Accessories industry. The Apparel/Accessories 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.
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.
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.
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 Teo Guan Lee Corp.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Teo Guan Lee Corp 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Apparel/Accessories industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Teo Guan Lee Corp
– 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Apparel/Accessories industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Teo Guan Lee Corp Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp 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 Teo Guan Lee Corp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.