Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dairy Farm Intl Holdings, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Retail (Grocery) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings
Strengths of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings are -
Analytics focus
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Retail (Grocery) industry. The technology infrastructure of Singapore 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
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Grocery)
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is one of the leading players in the Retail (Grocery) industry in Singapore. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Grocery) industry in Singapore but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Dairy Farm Intl Holdings in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Grocery) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Grocery) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dairy Farm Intl Holdings digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
High brand equity
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Grocery) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings in Retail (Grocery) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Grocery) industry
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Grocery) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Weaknesses of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings are -
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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dairy Farm Intl Holdings vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Skills based hiring in Retail (Grocery) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Grocery) industry, but Dairy Farm Intl Holdings needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to focus more on services in the Retail (Grocery) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ less understanding of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Grocery) industry, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to provide better information regarding Retail (Grocery) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on Dairy Farm Intl Holdings ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Retail (Grocery) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Singapore, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Dairy Farm Intl Holdings Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Grocery) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Grocery) industry. This can help Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to build a more holistic ecosystem for Dairy Farm Intl Holdings products in the Retail (Grocery) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Retail (Grocery) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dairy Farm Intl Holdings to increase its market reach. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Grocery) 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Grocery) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 (Grocery) industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Grocery) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Dairy Farm Intl Holdings in the Retail (Grocery) industry. Now Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Dairy Farm Intl Holdings External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings are -
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. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Grocery) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Grocery) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Grocery) industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Retail (Grocery) industry regulations.
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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 (Grocery) industry and other sectors.
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. Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dairy Farm Intl Holdings is facing in Retail (Grocery) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Grocery) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dairy Farm Intl Holdings needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Grocery) 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.
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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 (Grocery) industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dairy Farm Intl Holdings Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings 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 Dairy Farm Intl Holdings needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
