SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for TRAN PAULIST PN (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , TRAN PAULIST PN is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that TRAN PAULIST PN can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the TRAN PAULIST PN, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of TRAN PAULIST PN
2. Improving business portfolio management of TRAN PAULIST PN
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a Electric Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of TRAN PAULIST PN
Strengths of TRAN PAULIST PN | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of TRAN PAULIST PN are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– TRAN PAULIST PN has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Electric Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of TRAN PAULIST PN have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Electric Utilities industry
– TRAN PAULIST PN has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled TRAN PAULIST PN to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Electric Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped TRAN PAULIST PN to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the TRAN PAULIST PN 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.
Organizational Resilience of TRAN PAULIST PN
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing TRAN PAULIST PN does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Electric Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For TRAN PAULIST PN digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. TRAN PAULIST PN 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of TRAN PAULIST PN in Electric Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– TRAN PAULIST PN has one of the best training and development program in Utilities 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 lead change in Electric Utilities
– TRAN PAULIST PN is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry in Brazil. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electric Utilities industry in Brazil but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled TRAN PAULIST PN 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)
– TRAN PAULIST PN has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – TRAN PAULIST PN staying ahead in the Electric Utilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of TRAN PAULIST PN comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Electric Utilities 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 brand equity
– TRAN PAULIST PN has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled TRAN PAULIST PN to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at TRAN PAULIST PN emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of TRAN PAULIST PN | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TRAN PAULIST PN are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though TRAN PAULIST PN has some of the most successful models in the Electric Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. TRAN PAULIST PN should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– TRAN PAULIST PN 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of TRAN PAULIST PN is just above the Electric Utilities 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, TRAN PAULIST PN 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, TRAN PAULIST PN has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Electric Utilities industry over the last five years. TRAN PAULIST PN 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 Electric Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Brazil, TRAN PAULIST PN 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 Electric Utilities industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of TRAN PAULIST PN is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electric Utilities industry, but TRAN PAULIST PN needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help TRAN PAULIST PN to focus more on services in the Electric Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Electric Utilities industry, TRAN PAULIST PN 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.
High dependence on TRAN PAULIST PN ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of TRAN PAULIST PN still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electric Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though TRAN PAULIST PN has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that TRAN PAULIST PN needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Electric Utilities industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at TRAN PAULIST PN can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as TRAN PAULIST PN is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 TRAN PAULIST PN supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, TRAN PAULIST PN is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left TRAN PAULIST PN vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
TRAN PAULIST PN Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of TRAN PAULIST PN are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for TRAN PAULIST PN in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Electric Utilities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Electric Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. TRAN PAULIST PN can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects TRAN PAULIST PN can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, TRAN PAULIST PN can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that TRAN PAULIST PN operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electric Utilities sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Electric Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for TRAN PAULIST PN in the Electric Utilities industry. Now TRAN PAULIST PN can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. TRAN PAULIST PN can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at TRAN PAULIST PN 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 Electric Utilities industry.
Manufacturing automation
– TRAN PAULIST PN can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Electric Utilities 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– TRAN PAULIST PN 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, TRAN PAULIST PN 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, TRAN PAULIST PN is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TRAN PAULIST PN can utilize new technology in the field of Electric Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– TRAN PAULIST PN can develop new processes and procedures in Electric Utilities industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats TRAN PAULIST PN External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of TRAN PAULIST PN are -
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 TRAN PAULIST PN in the Electric Utilities sector and impact the bottomline 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 TRAN PAULIST PN in Electric Utilities industry. The Electric Utilities 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– TRAN PAULIST PN 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN prominent markets.
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 TRAN PAULIST PN.
Regulatory challenges
– TRAN PAULIST PN 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 Electric Utilities industry regulations.
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.
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. TRAN PAULIST PN 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.
Increasing wage structure of TRAN PAULIST PN
– 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 TRAN PAULIST PN.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electric Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents TRAN PAULIST PN with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electric Utilities sector.
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. TRAN PAULIST PN needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Electric Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, TRAN PAULIST PN may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Electric Utilities sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Electric Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. TRAN PAULIST PN can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TRAN PAULIST PN Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN 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 TRAN PAULIST PN needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.