Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd (ZBRG) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Retail (Department & Discount)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd (Singapore)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Retail (Department & Discount) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd
Strengths of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. This has provided Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in Singapore. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Singapore. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Retail (Department & Discount)
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in Singapore. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in Singapore but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Learning organization
- Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is just above the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd has high operating costs in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd to provide better information regarding Retail (Department & Discount) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Singapore, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Department & Discount) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, but Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd to focus more on services in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in last five years.
Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd are -
Loyalty marketing
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Department & Discount) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Department & Discount) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd to increase its market reach. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd 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, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. Now Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Developing new processes and practices
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Department & Discount) 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd in Retail (Department & Discount) industry. The Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry and other sectors.
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. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Department & Discount) 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, Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Department & Discount) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd
– 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd is facing in Retail (Department & Discount) 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry are lowering. It can presents Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group 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 Zhongmin Baihui Retail Group Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.