TIME FOR FUN ON (SHOW3) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for TIME FOR FUN ON (Brazil)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , TIME FOR FUN ON is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TIME FOR FUN ON

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that TIME FOR FUN ON can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the TIME FOR FUN ON, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which TIME FOR FUN ON 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 TIME FOR FUN ON can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of TIME FOR FUN ON
2. Improving business portfolio management of TIME FOR FUN ON
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a Recreational Activities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of TIME FOR FUN ON

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Strengths of TIME FOR FUN ON | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of TIME FOR FUN ON are -

Diverse revenue streams

– TIME FOR FUN ON is present in almost all the verticals within the Recreational Activities industry. This has provided TIME FOR FUN ON 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

– TIME FOR FUN ON has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Recreational Activities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of TIME FOR FUN ON have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– TIME FOR FUN ON has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – TIME FOR FUN ON staying ahead in the Recreational Activities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High brand equity

– TIME FOR FUN ON has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled TIME FOR FUN ON to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Successful track record of launching new products

– TIME FOR FUN ON has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Ability to lead change in Recreational Activities

– TIME FOR FUN ON is one of the leading players in the Recreational Activities industry in Brazil. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Recreational Activities industry in Brazil but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled TIME FOR FUN ON in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Learning organization

- TIME FOR FUN ON 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 TIME FOR FUN ON is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at TIME FOR FUN ON emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Analytics focus

– TIME FOR FUN ON 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 Recreational Activities 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.

Training and development

– TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– TIME FOR FUN ON is one of the leading players in the Recreational Activities 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.

Strong track record of project management in the Recreational Activities industry

– TIME FOR FUN ON is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

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Weaknesses of TIME FOR FUN ON | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of TIME FOR FUN ON are -

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

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of TIME FOR FUN ON, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Recreational Activities 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that TIME FOR FUN ON needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Recreational Activities industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at TIME FOR FUN ON can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as TIME FOR FUN ON is planning to shift buying processes online.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of TIME FOR FUN ON is just above the Recreational Activities 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.

Products dominated business model

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

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, TIME FOR FUN ON has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Recreational Activities industry over the last five years. TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, TIME FOR FUN ON is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help TIME FOR FUN ON to provide better information regarding Recreational Activities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Lack of clear differentiation of TIME FOR FUN ON products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, TIME FOR FUN ON needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Recreational Activities industry, TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Brazil, TIME FOR FUN ON needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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TIME FOR FUN ON Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of TIME FOR FUN ON 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 TIME FOR FUN ON 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 TIME FOR FUN ON to increase its market reach. TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for TIME FOR FUN ON 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 TIME FOR FUN ON 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, TIME FOR FUN ON can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that TIME FOR FUN ON operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Recreational Activities sector.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, TIME FOR FUN ON is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TIME FOR FUN ON can utilize new technology in the field of Recreational Activities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Recreational Activities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. TIME FOR FUN ON 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. TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

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

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for TIME FOR FUN ON in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Recreational Activities 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 TIME FOR FUN ON can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Developing new processes and practices

– TIME FOR FUN ON can develop new processes and procedures in Recreational Activities 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.

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Threats TIME FOR FUN ON External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of TIME FOR FUN ON are -

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– TIME FOR FUN ON has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Recreational Activities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, TIME FOR FUN ON needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Recreational Activities 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.

Regulatory challenges

– TIME FOR FUN ON 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 Recreational Activities industry regulations.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that TIME FOR FUN ON is facing in Recreational Activities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Recreational Activities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. TIME FOR FUN ON can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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. TIME FOR FUN ON needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Recreational Activities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Consumer confidence and its impact on TIME FOR FUN ON 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 Recreational Activities industry and other sectors.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for TIME FOR FUN ON in Recreational Activities industry. The Recreational Activities industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.

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 TIME FOR FUN ON in the Recreational Activities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. TIME FOR FUN ON 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.

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 TIME FOR FUN ON business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, TIME FOR FUN ON may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Recreational Activities sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– TIME FOR FUN ON 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 Recreational Activities industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of TIME FOR FUN ON Template, Example

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

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