Cosmoam&T (5070) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Cosmoam&T (South Korea)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Cosmoam&T is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cosmoam&T

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Cosmoam&T can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cosmoam&T, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Cosmoam&T
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cosmoam&T
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Korea
4. Making a Office Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cosmoam&T

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Strengths of Cosmoam&T | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Cosmoam&T are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Cosmoam&T has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Office Equipment industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Cosmoam&T have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Ability to lead change in Office Equipment

– Cosmoam&T is one of the leading players in the Office Equipment industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Office Equipment industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Cosmoam&T in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Cosmoam&T in Office Equipment industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Cosmoam&T comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Office Equipment 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

– Cosmoam&T is one of the leading players in the Office Equipment 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Cosmoam&T is present in almost all the verticals within the Office Equipment industry. This has provided Cosmoam&T 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Cosmoam&T in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Cosmoam&T has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cosmoam&T to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Strong track record of project management in the Office Equipment industry

– Cosmoam&T is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Cosmoam&T 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.

Learning organization

- Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Cosmoam&T emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Innovation driven organization

– Cosmoam&T is one of the most innovative firm in Office Equipment sector.

Analytics focus

– Cosmoam&T 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 Office Equipment industry. The technology infrastructure of South Korea 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.

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Weaknesses of Cosmoam&T | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Cosmoam&T are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Cosmoam&T, in the dynamic environment of Office Equipment industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cosmoam&T has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Skills based hiring in Office Equipment industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cosmoam&T 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Cosmoam&T is just above the Office Equipment 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Cosmoam&T has high operating costs in the Office Equipment industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cosmoam&T lucrative customers.

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

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cosmoam&T is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Cosmoam&T to provide better information regarding Office Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Need for greater diversity

– Cosmoam&T 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.

Products dominated business model

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

High bargaining power of channel partners in Office Equipment industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in South Korea, Cosmoam&T is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Office Equipment industry.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of South Korea, Cosmoam&T needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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Cosmoam&T Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Cosmoam&T are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cosmoam&T in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Office Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Cosmoam&T has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Office Equipment industry. This can help Cosmoam&T to build a more holistic ecosystem for Cosmoam&T products in the Office Equipment industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Cosmoam&T can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Manufacturing automation

– Cosmoam&T can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Office Equipment 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cosmoam&T can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cosmoam&T operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Office Equipment sector.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Cosmoam&T 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 Office Equipment industry.

Loyalty marketing

– Cosmoam&T 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

– Cosmoam&T can develop new processes and procedures in Office Equipment 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, Cosmoam&T 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Cosmoam&T has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Office Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Cosmoam&T to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cosmoam&T to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cosmoam&T is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cosmoam&T can utilize new technology in the field of Office Equipment industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

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Threats Cosmoam&T External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Cosmoam&T are -

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 Cosmoam&T business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T prominent markets.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Cosmoam&T 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.

Increasing wage structure of Cosmoam&T

– 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 Cosmoam&T.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Cosmoam&T is facing in Office Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Office Equipment industry are lowering. It can presents Cosmoam&T with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Office Equipment sector.

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 Cosmoam&T in the Office Equipment sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Cosmoam&T may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Office Equipment sector.

Regulatory challenges

– Cosmoam&T 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 Office Equipment industry regulations.

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. Cosmoam&T needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Office Equipment industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Cosmoam&T 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 Office Equipment industry and other sectors.

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.

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 Cosmoam&T.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cosmoam&T Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T 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 Cosmoam&T needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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