Miwon Specialty Chemical (268280) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Chemical Manufacturing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Miwon Specialty Chemical (South Korea)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Miwon Specialty Chemical is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Miwon Specialty Chemical
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Miwon Specialty Chemical can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Miwon Specialty Chemical, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Miwon Specialty Chemical
2. Improving business portfolio management of Miwon Specialty Chemical
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Korea
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Miwon Specialty Chemical
Strengths of Miwon Specialty Chemical | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Miwon Specialty Chemical are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Miwon Specialty Chemical has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Miwon Specialty Chemical to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Miwon Specialty Chemical to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Chemical Manufacturing
– Miwon Specialty Chemical is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Miwon Specialty Chemical in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Miwon Specialty Chemical in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Miwon Specialty Chemical has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Miwon Specialty Chemical to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Miwon Specialty Chemical digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Miwon Specialty Chemical has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Chemical Manufacturing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Miwon Specialty Chemical have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Miwon Specialty Chemical has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Miwon Specialty Chemical to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Miwon Specialty Chemical comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Miwon Specialty Chemical is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Miwon Specialty Chemical in Chemical Manufacturing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Miwon Specialty Chemical is present in almost all the verticals within the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This has provided Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Analytics focus
– Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Weaknesses of Miwon Specialty Chemical | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Miwon Specialty Chemical are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Miwon Specialty Chemical has some of the most successful models in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Miwon Specialty Chemical should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Miwon Specialty Chemical needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Chemical Manufacturing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Miwon Specialty Chemical can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Miwon Specialty Chemical is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Miwon Specialty Chemical products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Miwon Specialty Chemical needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Miwon Specialty Chemical has high operating costs in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Miwon Specialty Chemical lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Miwon Specialty Chemical has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Miwon Specialty Chemical, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Miwon Specialty Chemical is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, but Miwon Specialty Chemical needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Miwon Specialty Chemical to focus more on services in the Chemical Manufacturing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry, Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
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 Miwon Specialty Chemical supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Miwon Specialty Chemical is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Miwon Specialty Chemical vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Miwon Specialty Chemical is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Miwon Specialty Chemical to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Miwon Specialty Chemical Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Miwon Specialty Chemical are -
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 Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Miwon Specialty Chemical to increase its market reach. Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Miwon Specialty Chemical in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Miwon Specialty Chemical can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Miwon Specialty Chemical has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can help Miwon Specialty Chemical to build a more holistic ecosystem for Miwon Specialty Chemical products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Chemical Manufacturing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Miwon Specialty Chemical 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
– Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Miwon Specialty Chemical in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Miwon Specialty Chemical has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemical Manufacturing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Miwon Specialty Chemical to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Miwon Specialty Chemical to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Miwon Specialty Chemical External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Miwon Specialty Chemical are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Miwon Specialty Chemical 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. Miwon Specialty Chemical can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Miwon Specialty Chemical
– 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Miwon Specialty Chemical may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemical Manufacturing industry are lowering. It can presents Miwon Specialty Chemical with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Miwon Specialty Chemical has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Miwon Specialty Chemical needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Chemical Manufacturing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Miwon Specialty Chemical can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Miwon Specialty Chemical 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.
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.
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. Miwon Specialty Chemical needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Miwon Specialty Chemical is facing in Chemical Manufacturing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Miwon Specialty Chemical in the Chemical Manufacturing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Miwon Specialty Chemical Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical 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 Miwon Specialty Chemical needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.