Bidvest Group Ltd, The (BVTJ) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Food Processing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Bidvest Group Ltd, The (South Africa)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bidvest Group Ltd, The is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bidvest Group Ltd, The
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bidvest Group Ltd, The can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bidvest Group Ltd, The, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bidvest Group Ltd, The
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bidvest Group Ltd, The
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Africa
4. Making a Food Processing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bidvest Group Ltd, The
Strengths of Bidvest Group Ltd, The | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bidvest Group Ltd, The are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Food Processing industry. The technology infrastructure of South Africa 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.
Organizational Resilience of Bidvest Group Ltd, The
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Bidvest Group Ltd, The does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Food Processing
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry in South Africa. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Food Processing industry in South Africa but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Bidvest Group Ltd, The in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bidvest Group Ltd, The to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The is one of the most innovative firm in Food Processing sector.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Food Processing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Bidvest Group Ltd, The have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bidvest Group Ltd, The in Food Processing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry in South Africa. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in South Africa. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The is present in almost all the verticals within the Food Processing industry. This has provided Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Weaknesses of Bidvest Group Ltd, The | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bidvest Group Ltd, The are -
Need for greater diversity
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Food Processing industry using digital technology.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Bidvest Group Ltd, The needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Food Processing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Bidvest Group Ltd, The can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bidvest Group Ltd, The is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of South Africa, Bidvest Group Ltd, The needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bidvest Group Ltd, The is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Food Processing industry in last five years.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Food Processing industry, Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Bidvest Group Ltd, The, in the dynamic environment of Food Processing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bidvest Group Ltd, The has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ less understanding of Bidvest Group Ltd, The strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bidvest Group Ltd, The has some of the most successful models in the Food Processing industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Bidvest Group Ltd, The should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on Bidvest Group Ltd, The ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Bidvest Group Ltd, The still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Food Processing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Bidvest Group Ltd, The has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Bidvest Group Ltd, The Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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, Bidvest Group Ltd, The can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bidvest Group Ltd, The operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Food Processing sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bidvest Group Ltd, The has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Food Processing industry. This can help Bidvest Group Ltd, The to build a more holistic ecosystem for Bidvest Group Ltd, The products in the Food Processing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Food Processing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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. Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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. Bidvest Group Ltd, The can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Food Processing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bidvest Group Ltd, The in the Food Processing industry. Now Bidvest Group Ltd, The can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The can develop new processes and procedures in Food Processing 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bidvest Group Ltd, The to increase its market reach. Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Food Processing 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.
Threats Bidvest Group Ltd, The External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bidvest Group Ltd, The are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Food Processing industry are lowering. It can presents Bidvest Group Ltd, The with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Food Processing sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The prominent markets.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Food Processing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bidvest Group Ltd, The needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Food Processing 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.
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. Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Food Processing industry and other sectors.
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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The in the Food Processing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Bidvest Group Ltd, The.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bidvest Group Ltd, The is facing in Food Processing 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bidvest Group Ltd, The may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Food Processing sector.
Increasing wage structure of Bidvest Group Ltd, The
– 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The.
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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bidvest Group Ltd, The Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The 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 Bidvest Group Ltd, The needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.