MM2 Asia (MM2A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for MM2 Asia (Singapore)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , MM2 Asia is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MM2 Asia

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that MM2 Asia can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the MM2 Asia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of MM2 Asia
2. Improving business portfolio management of MM2 Asia
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Motion Pictures sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of MM2 Asia

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Strengths of MM2 Asia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of MM2 Asia are -

Successful track record of launching new products

– MM2 Asia has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. MM2 Asia 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of MM2 Asia in Motion Pictures industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Analytics focus

– MM2 Asia 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 Motion Pictures 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of MM2 Asia comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Motion Pictures 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of MM2 Asia in the Services sector have low bargaining power. MM2 Asia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps MM2 Asia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Ability to lead change in Motion Pictures

– MM2 Asia is one of the leading players in the Motion Pictures industry in Singapore. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Motion Pictures industry in Singapore but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled MM2 Asia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Diverse revenue streams

– MM2 Asia is present in almost all the verticals within the Motion Pictures industry. This has provided MM2 Asia 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.

Learning organization

- MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at MM2 Asia emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Training and development

– MM2 Asia 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Motion Pictures industry

– MM2 Asia has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled MM2 Asia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Motion Pictures industry. The sustainable margins have also helped MM2 Asia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the MM2 Asia 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.

Strong track record of project management in the Motion Pictures industry

– MM2 Asia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

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Weaknesses of MM2 Asia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of MM2 Asia are -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, MM2 Asia 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 Motion Pictures industry using digital technology.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, MM2 Asia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help MM2 Asia to provide better information regarding Motion Pictures products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Employees’ less understanding of MM2 Asia strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of MM2 Asia 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 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 MM2 Asia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, MM2 Asia is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left MM2 Asia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Motion Pictures industry, MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of MM2 Asia still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Motion Pictures industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though MM2 Asia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

MM2 Asia has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Motion Pictures industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of MM2 Asia is just above the Motion Pictures 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at MM2 Asia, in the dynamic environment of Motion Pictures industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. MM2 Asia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Skills based hiring in Motion Pictures industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Motion Pictures industry, but MM2 Asia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help MM2 Asia to focus more on services in the Motion Pictures industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

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MM2 Asia Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of MM2 Asia are -

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of MM2 Asia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Motion Pictures industry. This can help MM2 Asia to build a more holistic ecosystem for MM2 Asia products in the Motion Pictures industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at MM2 Asia 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 Motion Pictures industry.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, MM2 Asia is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. MM2 Asia can utilize new technology in the field of Motion Pictures industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Leveraging digital technologies

– MM2 Asia 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for MM2 Asia 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– MM2 Asia has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Motion Pictures sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled MM2 Asia to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help MM2 Asia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, MM2 Asia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that MM2 Asia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Motion Pictures sector.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Motion Pictures industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. MM2 Asia 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. MM2 Asia 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.

Buying journey improvements

– MM2 Asia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Motion Pictures 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.

Loyalty marketing

– MM2 Asia 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for MM2 Asia in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Motion Pictures industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, MM2 Asia 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.

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Threats MM2 Asia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of MM2 Asia are -

Increasing wage structure of MM2 Asia

– 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 MM2 Asia.

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 MM2 Asia in the Motion Pictures sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 MM2 Asia.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that MM2 Asia is facing in Motion Pictures 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 Motion Pictures industry are lowering. It can presents MM2 Asia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Motion Pictures sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– MM2 Asia 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 Motion Pictures industry.

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. MM2 Asia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Motion Pictures 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, MM2 Asia may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Motion Pictures sector.

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. MM2 Asia 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia prominent markets.

Regulatory challenges

– MM2 Asia 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 Motion Pictures industry regulations.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– MM2 Asia 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of MM2 Asia Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia 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 MM2 Asia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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