SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd (Singapore)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Recreational Activities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd
Strengths of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Recreational Activities industry. This has provided Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
Ability to lead change in Recreational Activities
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is one of the leading players in the Recreational Activities industry in Singapore. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Recreational Activities industry in Singapore but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
High brand equity
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd staying ahead in the Recreational Activities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Recreational Activities industry
– Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Recreational Activities sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Recreational Activities industry
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Recreational Activities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Asiatravel.com Holdings 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
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Recreational Activities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Training and development
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd 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.
Weaknesses of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is just above the Recreational Activities 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Recreational Activities industry using digital technology.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Recreational Activities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Singapore, Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Recreational Activities industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has high operating costs in the Recreational Activities industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Recreational Activities industry, but Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to focus more on services in the Recreational Activities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Singapore, Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Recreational Activities industry over the last five years. Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Lack of clear differentiation of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Recreational Activities 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Recreational Activities industry.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Recreational Activities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd in the Recreational Activities industry. Now Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Recreational Activities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to increase its market reach. Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Recreational Activities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Recreational Activities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Recreational Activities 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Recreational Activities industry. This can help Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd products in the Recreational Activities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the Recreational Activities industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd is facing in Recreational Activities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Asiatravel.com Holdings 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. Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Recreational Activities 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. Asiatravel.com Holdings 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Recreational Activities sector.
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. Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Recreational Activities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd in Recreational Activities industry. The Recreational Activities 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.
Increasing wage structure of Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd.
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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings 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 Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.