G-treeBNT (115450) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Software & Programming
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for G-treeBNT (South Korea)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , G-treeBNT is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that G-treeBNT can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the G-treeBNT, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of G-treeBNT
2. Improving business portfolio management of G-treeBNT
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Korea
4. Making a Software & Programming sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of G-treeBNT
Strengths of G-treeBNT | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of G-treeBNT are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– G-treeBNT has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Software & Programming industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of G-treeBNT have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of G-treeBNT comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Software & Programming industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to recruit top talent
– G-treeBNT is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry in South Korea. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in South Korea. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– G-treeBNT has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – G-treeBNT staying ahead in the Software & Programming industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that G-treeBNT 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.
Ability to lead change in Software & Programming
– G-treeBNT is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Software & Programming industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled G-treeBNT in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– G-treeBNT has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. G-treeBNT 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.
Innovation driven organization
– G-treeBNT is one of the most innovative firm in Software & Programming sector.
Learning organization
- G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at G-treeBNT emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the G-treeBNT 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
– G-treeBNT has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled G-treeBNT to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Software & Programming industry
– G-treeBNT has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled G-treeBNT to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Software & Programming industry. The sustainable margins have also helped G-treeBNT to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of G-treeBNT | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of G-treeBNT are -
Employees’ less understanding of G-treeBNT strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of G-treeBNT 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, G-treeBNT is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help G-treeBNT to provide better information regarding Software & Programming products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, G-treeBNT 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of G-treeBNT products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, G-treeBNT needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on G-treeBNT ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of G-treeBNT still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Software & Programming industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though G-treeBNT has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Software & Programming industry, G-treeBNT 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of G-treeBNT is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Software & Programming industry, but G-treeBNT needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help G-treeBNT to focus more on services in the Software & Programming industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of South Korea, G-treeBNT needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, G-treeBNT has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Software & Programming industry over the last five years. G-treeBNT 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of G-treeBNT is just above the Software & Programming 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 G-treeBNT, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Software & Programming 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.
G-treeBNT Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of G-treeBNT are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– G-treeBNT has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Software & Programming sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled G-treeBNT to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help G-treeBNT to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Software & Programming industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. G-treeBNT can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help G-treeBNT to increase its market reach. G-treeBNT 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Software & Programming industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. G-treeBNT 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. G-treeBNT 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– G-treeBNT can develop new processes and procedures in Software & Programming 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, G-treeBNT 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, G-treeBNT is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. G-treeBNT can utilize new technology in the field of Software & Programming industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Software & Programming industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for G-treeBNT in the Software & Programming industry. Now G-treeBNT can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– G-treeBNT can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Software & Programming 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.
Loyalty marketing
– G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– G-treeBNT can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Software & Programming 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 G-treeBNT External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of G-treeBNT are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Software & Programming industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. G-treeBNT can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 G-treeBNT business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– G-treeBNT 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Software & Programming industry are lowering. It can presents G-treeBNT with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Software & Programming sector.
Regulatory challenges
– G-treeBNT 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 Software & Programming industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of G-treeBNT
– 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 G-treeBNT.
Environmental challenges
– G-treeBNT 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. G-treeBNT can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Software & Programming 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. G-treeBNT needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Software & Programming industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that G-treeBNT is facing in Software & Programming sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. G-treeBNT 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, G-treeBNT may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Software & Programming sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– G-treeBNT 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 Software & Programming industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of G-treeBNT Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT 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 G-treeBNT needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
