Schroder European Real Estate PLC (SCDJ) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Schroder European Real Estate PLC (South Africa)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Schroder European Real Estate PLC is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Schroder European Real Estate PLC

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Schroder European Real Estate PLC can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Schroder European Real Estate PLC, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Schroder European Real Estate PLC can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Schroder European Real Estate PLC
2. Improving business portfolio management of Schroder European Real Estate PLC
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Africa
4. Making a Real Estate Operations sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Schroder European Real Estate PLC

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Strengths of Schroder European Real Estate PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Schroder European Real Estate PLC are -

Digital Transformation in Real Estate Operations industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Schroder European Real Estate PLC digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Training and development

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Learning organization

- Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Schroder European Real Estate PLC emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Innovation driven organization

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC is one of the most innovative firm in Real Estate Operations sector.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC is one of the leading players in the Real Estate Operations 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Real Estate Operations industry

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Schroder European Real Estate PLC to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Real Estate Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Schroder European Real Estate PLC to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Schroder European Real Estate PLC staying ahead in the Real Estate Operations industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High brand equity

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Schroder European Real Estate PLC to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Schroder European Real Estate PLC in Real Estate Operations industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Diverse revenue streams

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC is present in almost all the verticals within the Real Estate Operations industry. This has provided Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

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Weaknesses of Schroder European Real Estate PLC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Schroder European Real Estate PLC are -

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Schroder European Real Estate PLC needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Real Estate Operations industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Schroder European Real Estate PLC can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Schroder European Real Estate PLC is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Schroder European Real Estate PLC is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Schroder European Real Estate PLC to provide better information regarding Real Estate Operations products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Schroder European Real Estate PLC is just above the Real Estate Operations 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Schroder European Real Estate PLC, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Real Estate Operations 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Schroder European Real Estate PLC has some of the most successful models in the Real Estate Operations industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Schroder European Real Estate PLC should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Need for greater diversity

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Schroder European Real Estate PLC has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Real Estate Operations industry over the last five years. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Schroder European Real Estate PLC is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Real Estate Operations industry, but Schroder European Real Estate PLC needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Schroder European Real Estate PLC to focus more on services in the Real Estate Operations industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Schroder European Real Estate PLC is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Schroder European Real Estate PLC vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ less understanding of Schroder European Real Estate PLC strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

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Schroder European Real Estate PLC Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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, Schroder European Real Estate PLC can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Schroder European Real Estate PLC operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Real Estate Operations sector.

Buying journey improvements

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Real Estate Operations 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Real Estate Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Schroder European Real Estate PLC can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Loyalty marketing

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Real Estate Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Schroder European Real Estate PLC to increase its market reach. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Schroder European Real Estate PLC has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Real Estate Operations industry. This can help Schroder European Real Estate PLC to build a more holistic ecosystem for Schroder European Real Estate PLC products in the Real Estate Operations industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Schroder European Real Estate PLC in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Real Estate Operations industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Schroder European Real Estate PLC can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Real Estate Operations industry.

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Threats Schroder European Real Estate PLC External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Schroder European Real Estate PLC are -

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. Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Real Estate Operations industry regulations.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Real Estate Operations industry are lowering. It can presents Schroder European Real Estate PLC with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Real Estate Operations sector.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Real Estate Operations industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Schroder European Real Estate PLC can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing wage structure of Schroder European Real Estate PLC

– 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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC.

Environmental challenges

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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. Schroder European Real Estate PLC can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Real Estate Operations industry.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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, Schroder European Real Estate PLC may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Real Estate Operations sector.

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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC.

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. Schroder European Real Estate PLC needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Real Estate Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Schroder European Real Estate PLC has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Real Estate Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Schroder European Real Estate PLC needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Real Estate Operations 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Schroder European Real Estate PLC is facing in Real Estate Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Schroder European Real Estate PLC Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC 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 Schroder European Real Estate PLC needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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