SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for MARCOPOLO PN (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , MARCOPOLO PN is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that MARCOPOLO PN can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the MARCOPOLO PN, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of MARCOPOLO PN
2. Improving business portfolio management of MARCOPOLO PN
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of MARCOPOLO PN
Strengths of MARCOPOLO PN | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of MARCOPOLO PN are -
Analytics focus
– MARCOPOLO PN 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– MARCOPOLO PN has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– MARCOPOLO PN is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Auto & Truck Manufacturers
– MARCOPOLO PN is one of the leading players in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry in Brazil. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry in Brazil but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled MARCOPOLO PN in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– MARCOPOLO PN is one of the leading players in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– MARCOPOLO PN has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – MARCOPOLO PN staying ahead in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of MARCOPOLO PN in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. MARCOPOLO PN has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps MARCOPOLO PN to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of MARCOPOLO PN in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Organizational Resilience of MARCOPOLO PN
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing MARCOPOLO PN does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– MARCOPOLO PN is present in almost all the verticals within the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. This has provided MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– MARCOPOLO PN has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of MARCOPOLO PN have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of MARCOPOLO PN | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MARCOPOLO PN are -
High dependence on MARCOPOLO PN ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of MARCOPOLO PN still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though MARCOPOLO PN has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that MARCOPOLO PN needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at MARCOPOLO PN can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as MARCOPOLO PN is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at MARCOPOLO PN has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry, MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, MARCOPOLO PN 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry using digital technology.
Lack of clear differentiation of MARCOPOLO PN products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, MARCOPOLO PN needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As MARCOPOLO PN is one of the leading players in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry in last five years.
Need for greater diversity
– MARCOPOLO PN 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.
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 MARCOPOLO PN supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, MARCOPOLO PN is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left MARCOPOLO PN vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brazil, MARCOPOLO PN needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at MARCOPOLO PN, in the dynamic environment of Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. MARCOPOLO PN has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
MARCOPOLO PN Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of MARCOPOLO PN are -
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for MARCOPOLO PN in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. Now MARCOPOLO PN can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. MARCOPOLO PN 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. MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, MARCOPOLO PN can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that MARCOPOLO PN operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help MARCOPOLO PN to increase its market reach. MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. This can help MARCOPOLO PN to build a more holistic ecosystem for MARCOPOLO PN products in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Loyalty marketing
– MARCOPOLO PN 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, MARCOPOLO PN is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. MARCOPOLO PN can utilize new technology in the field of Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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. MARCOPOLO PN can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats MARCOPOLO PN External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of MARCOPOLO PN are -
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 MARCOPOLO PN in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– MARCOPOLO PN 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry.
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. MARCOPOLO PN needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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 MARCOPOLO PN.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that MARCOPOLO PN is facing in Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry are lowering. It can presents MARCOPOLO PN with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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 MARCOPOLO PN business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. MARCOPOLO PN 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, MARCOPOLO PN may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on MARCOPOLO PN 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry and other sectors.
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 MARCOPOLO PN Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN 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 MARCOPOLO PN needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.