SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Lion Asiapac Ltd (Singapore)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Lion Asiapac Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Lion Asiapac Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lion Asiapac Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Lion Asiapac Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lion Asiapac Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Semiconductors sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Lion Asiapac Ltd
Strengths of Lion Asiapac Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lion Asiapac Ltd are -
Organizational Resilience of Lion Asiapac Ltd
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Lion Asiapac Ltd does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lion Asiapac Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lion Asiapac Ltd 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lion Asiapac Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Semiconductors industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Lion Asiapac Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lion Asiapac Ltd is one of the leading players in the Semiconductors 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Semiconductors industry
– Lion Asiapac 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lion Asiapac Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Semiconductors industry. This has provided Lion Asiapac 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lion Asiapac Ltd in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Lion Asiapac Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lion Asiapac Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Semiconductors industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lion Asiapac Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lion Asiapac 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.
Training and development
– Lion Asiapac Ltd has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lion Asiapac Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Lion Asiapac Ltd staying ahead in the Semiconductors industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac Ltd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Lion Asiapac Ltd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Lion Asiapac Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lion Asiapac Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Lion Asiapac Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lion Asiapac Ltd are -
Employees’ less understanding of Lion Asiapac Ltd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Lion Asiapac 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.
High dependence on Lion Asiapac Ltd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Lion Asiapac Ltd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Semiconductors industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Lion Asiapac Ltd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Lion Asiapac Ltd is one of the leading players in the Semiconductors industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Semiconductors industry in last five years.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lion Asiapac Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Semiconductors industry, but Lion Asiapac Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lion Asiapac Ltd to focus more on services in the Semiconductors industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Lion Asiapac 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lion Asiapac Ltd has some of the most successful models in the Semiconductors industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Lion Asiapac Ltd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lion Asiapac Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lion Asiapac Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lion Asiapac Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Lion Asiapac Ltd to provide better information regarding Semiconductors products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring in Semiconductors industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lion Asiapac Ltd 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Singapore, Lion Asiapac Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Semiconductors industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Singapore, Lion Asiapac Ltd 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 Semiconductors industry.
Lion Asiapac Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Lion Asiapac Ltd are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lion Asiapac Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lion Asiapac Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Semiconductors sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lion Asiapac Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Semiconductors industry. This can help Lion Asiapac Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Lion Asiapac Ltd products in the Semiconductors industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Lion Asiapac Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Semiconductors 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, Lion Asiapac Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lion Asiapac Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Semiconductors industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Semiconductors industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Lion Asiapac Ltd in the Semiconductors industry. Now Lion Asiapac Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lion Asiapac 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 Semiconductors industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lion Asiapac Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Semiconductors 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Lion Asiapac Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Semiconductors 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Semiconductors industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Lion Asiapac Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lion Asiapac Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Lion Asiapac Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lion Asiapac Ltd 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.
Threats Lion Asiapac Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Lion Asiapac Ltd are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lion Asiapac Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Semiconductors industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lion Asiapac Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Semiconductors 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lion Asiapac Ltd 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 Lion Asiapac Ltd prominent markets.
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 Lion Asiapac Ltd in the Semiconductors sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Semiconductors industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lion Asiapac Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Lion Asiapac 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. Lion Asiapac Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Semiconductors 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. Lion Asiapac 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac Ltd.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Lion Asiapac 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 Semiconductors sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Semiconductors industry are lowering. It can presents Lion Asiapac Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Semiconductors sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lion Asiapac Ltd is facing in Semiconductors sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Lion Asiapac 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 Semiconductors 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 Lion Asiapac Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lion Asiapac Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac 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 Lion Asiapac Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.