SOMOS EDU S/A ON (SEDU3) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Printing & Publishing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for SOMOS EDU S/A ON (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , SOMOS EDU S/A ON is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that SOMOS EDU S/A ON can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the SOMOS EDU S/A ON, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of SOMOS EDU S/A ON
2. Improving business portfolio management of SOMOS EDU S/A ON
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a Printing & Publishing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of SOMOS EDU S/A ON
Strengths of SOMOS EDU S/A ON | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of SOMOS EDU S/A ON are -
Organizational Resilience of SOMOS EDU S/A ON
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing SOMOS EDU S/A ON does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of SOMOS EDU S/A ON in the Services sector have low bargaining power. SOMOS EDU S/A ON has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps SOMOS EDU S/A ON to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Analytics focus
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 Printing & Publishing industry. The technology infrastructure of Brazil 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of SOMOS EDU S/A ON in Printing & Publishing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Digital Transformation in Printing & Publishing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For SOMOS EDU S/A ON digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Printing & Publishing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of SOMOS EDU S/A ON have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled SOMOS EDU S/A ON to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON is present in almost all the verticals within the Printing & Publishing industry. This has provided SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of SOMOS EDU S/A ON comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Printing & Publishing 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON is one of the leading players in the Printing & Publishing industry in Brazil. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Brazil. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses of SOMOS EDU S/A ON | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SOMOS EDU S/A ON are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that SOMOS EDU S/A ON needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Printing & Publishing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at SOMOS EDU S/A ON can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as SOMOS EDU S/A ON is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, SOMOS EDU S/A ON is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left SOMOS EDU S/A ON vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of SOMOS EDU S/A ON, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Printing & Publishing 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
SOMOS EDU S/A ON has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Printing & Publishing industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of SOMOS EDU S/A ON is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Printing & Publishing industry, but SOMOS EDU S/A ON needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help SOMOS EDU S/A ON to focus more on services in the Printing & Publishing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of SOMOS EDU S/A ON products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, SOMOS EDU S/A ON needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on SOMOS EDU S/A ON ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of SOMOS EDU S/A ON still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Printing & Publishing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though SOMOS EDU S/A ON has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, SOMOS EDU S/A ON has high operating costs in the Printing & Publishing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract SOMOS EDU S/A ON lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brazil, SOMOS EDU S/A ON needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SOMOS EDU S/A ON is one of the leading players in the Printing & Publishing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Printing & Publishing industry in last five years.
SOMOS EDU S/A ON Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of SOMOS EDU S/A ON are -
Buying journey improvements
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Printing & Publishing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects SOMOS EDU S/A ON can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON can develop new processes and procedures in Printing & Publishing 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 Printing & Publishing industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
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. SOMOS EDU S/A ON can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, SOMOS EDU S/A ON can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that SOMOS EDU S/A ON operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Printing & Publishing sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for SOMOS EDU S/A ON in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Printing & Publishing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Printing & Publishing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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. SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help SOMOS EDU S/A ON to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats SOMOS EDU S/A ON External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of SOMOS EDU S/A ON are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON in the Printing & Publishing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON prominent markets.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 Printing & Publishing industry and other sectors.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 Printing & Publishing industry.
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.
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. SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for SOMOS EDU S/A ON in Printing & Publishing industry. The Printing & Publishing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, SOMOS EDU S/A ON may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Printing & Publishing sector.
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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Printing & Publishing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, SOMOS EDU S/A ON needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Printing & Publishing 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.
Environmental challenges
– SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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. SOMOS EDU S/A ON can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Printing & Publishing industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SOMOS EDU S/A ON Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON 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 SOMOS EDU S/A ON needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
