SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Capitaland Commercial Trust (Singapore)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Capitaland Commercial Trust is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Capitaland Commercial Trust
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Capitaland Commercial Trust can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Capitaland Commercial Trust, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Capitaland Commercial Trust
2. Improving business portfolio management of Capitaland Commercial Trust
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Real Estate Operations sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Capitaland Commercial Trust
Strengths of Capitaland Commercial Trust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Capitaland Commercial Trust are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Capitaland Commercial Trust has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Capitaland Commercial Trust staying ahead in the Real Estate Operations industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Real Estate Operations industry
– Capitaland Commercial Trust is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Capitaland Commercial Trust emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Capitaland Commercial Trust has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Capitaland Commercial Trust 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
– Capitaland Commercial Trust has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Real Estate Operations industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Capitaland Commercial Trust have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Capitaland Commercial Trust is present in almost all the verticals within the Real Estate Operations industry. This has provided Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Real Estate Operations industry
– Capitaland Commercial Trust has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Capitaland Commercial Trust to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Real Estate Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Capitaland Commercial Trust to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Real Estate Operations 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Capitaland Commercial Trust in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Capitaland Commercial Trust has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Capitaland Commercial Trust to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Capitaland Commercial Trust
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Capitaland Commercial Trust does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Weaknesses of Capitaland Commercial Trust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Capitaland Commercial Trust are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Capitaland Commercial Trust needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Real Estate Operations industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Capitaland Commercial Trust can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Capitaland Commercial Trust is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Capitaland Commercial Trust has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Real Estate Operations industry over the last five years. Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Capitaland Commercial Trust is one of the leading players in the Real Estate Operations industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Real Estate Operations industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Real Estate Operations industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Singapore, Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Real Estate Operations industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Singapore, Capitaland Commercial Trust needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring in Real Estate Operations industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Capitaland Commercial Trust has some of the most successful models in the Real Estate Operations industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Capitaland Commercial Trust should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Capitaland Commercial Trust strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Capitaland Commercial Trust has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Real Estate Operations industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Capitaland Commercial Trust is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Capitaland Commercial Trust to provide better information regarding Real Estate Operations products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capitaland Commercial Trust Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Capitaland Commercial Trust are -
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Real Estate Operations industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Capitaland Commercial Trust in the Real Estate Operations industry. Now Capitaland Commercial Trust can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Capitaland Commercial Trust has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Real Estate Operations industry. This can help Capitaland Commercial Trust to build a more holistic ecosystem for Capitaland Commercial Trust products in the Real Estate Operations industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Capitaland Commercial Trust can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Capitaland Commercial Trust operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Real Estate Operations sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Capitaland Commercial Trust can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Real Estate Operations sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Capitaland Commercial Trust can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Capitaland Commercial Trust can develop new processes and procedures in Real Estate Operations 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Capitaland Commercial Trust can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Real Estate Operations 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Capitaland Commercial Trust is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Capitaland Commercial Trust can utilize new technology in the field of Real Estate Operations 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Real Estate Operations industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Capitaland Commercial Trust in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Real Estate Operations industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Real Estate Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Capitaland Commercial Trust 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. Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Capitaland Commercial Trust has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Real Estate Operations sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Capitaland Commercial Trust to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Capitaland Commercial Trust to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Capitaland Commercial Trust External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust in the Real Estate Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Capitaland Commercial Trust is facing in Real Estate Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust prominent markets.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Real Estate Operations industry.
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. Capitaland Commercial Trust will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Environmental challenges
– Capitaland Commercial Trust 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. Capitaland Commercial Trust can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Real Estate Operations industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Capitaland Commercial Trust in Real Estate Operations industry. The Real Estate Operations 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
– Capitaland Commercial Trust 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Real Estate Operations industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Capitaland Commercial Trust can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Real Estate Operations industry and other sectors.
Regulatory challenges
– Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Real Estate Operations 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Capitaland Commercial Trust Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust 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 Capitaland Commercial Trust needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
