Singapore Post Ltd (SPOS) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Singapore Post Ltd (Singapore)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Singapore Post Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Singapore Post Ltd

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Singapore Post Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Singapore Post Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Singapore Post Ltd operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Singapore Post Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Singapore Post Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Singapore Post Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Air Courier sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Singapore Post Ltd

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Strengths of Singapore Post Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Singapore Post Ltd are -

Learning organization

- Singapore Post Ltd 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 Singapore Post Ltd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Singapore Post Ltd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Singapore Post Ltd in the Transportation sector have low bargaining power. Singapore Post Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Singapore Post Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Strong track record of project management in the Air Courier industry

– Singapore Post Ltd is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Organizational Resilience of Singapore Post Ltd

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Singapore Post Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Diverse revenue streams

– Singapore Post Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Air Courier industry. This has provided Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier industry

– Singapore Post Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Singapore Post Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Air Courier industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Singapore Post Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Singapore Post Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Air Courier 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Singapore Post Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Air Courier industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Singapore Post Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier

– Singapore Post Ltd is one of the leading players in the Air Courier industry in Singapore. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Air Courier industry in Singapore but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Singapore Post Ltd 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)

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

High brand equity

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

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Weaknesses of Singapore Post Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Singapore Post Ltd are -

Products dominated business model

– Even though Singapore Post Ltd has some of the most successful models in the Air Courier industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Singapore Post Ltd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Aligning sales with marketing

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

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Singapore Post Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Air Courier industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Singapore Post Ltd is one of the leading players in the Air Courier industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Air Courier industry in last five years.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier industry using digital technology.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Singapore Post Ltd has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Air Courier industry over the last five years. Singapore Post Ltd 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Singapore Post Ltd 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.

Employees’ less understanding of Singapore Post Ltd strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Singapore Post Ltd 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Singapore Post Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Air Courier industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Singapore Post Ltd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Air Courier industry, Singapore Post Ltd 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.

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Singapore Post Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Singapore Post Ltd are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Singapore Post Ltd 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 Singapore Post Ltd to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Air Courier industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Singapore Post Ltd in the Air Courier industry. Now Singapore Post Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Singapore Post Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Air Courier sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Singapore Post Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Singapore Post Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Developing new processes and practices

– Singapore Post Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Air Courier 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Air Courier industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Singapore Post Ltd 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. Singapore Post Ltd 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Singapore Post Ltd to increase its market reach. Singapore Post Ltd 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Singapore Post Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Singapore Post Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Air Courier sector.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Singapore Post Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Air Courier industry. This can help Singapore Post Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Singapore Post Ltd products in the Air Courier 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 Singapore Post Ltd in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Air Courier industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier industry.

Loyalty marketing

– Singapore Post Ltd has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– Singapore Post Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Air Courier 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.

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Threats Singapore Post Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Singapore Post Ltd are -

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Singapore Post Ltd is facing in Air Courier sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Air Courier industry are lowering. It can presents Singapore Post Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Air Courier sector.

Environmental challenges

– Singapore Post Ltd 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. Singapore Post Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Air Courier 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. Singapore Post Ltd 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.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Singapore Post Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Air Courier industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Singapore Post Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Air Courier 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Singapore Post Ltd 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier industry and other sectors.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Singapore Post Ltd may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Air Courier sector.

Regulatory challenges

– Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier 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.

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 Singapore Post Ltd.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Singapore Post Ltd 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 Air Courier industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Singapore Post Ltd Template, Example

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

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