Senior Sol (SNSL3) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Senior Sol (Brazil)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Senior Sol is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Senior Sol

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

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Strengths of Senior Sol | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Senior Sol are -

Diverse revenue streams

– Senior Sol is present in almost all the verticals within the Computer Networks industry. This has provided Senior Sol 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Networks industry

– Senior Sol has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Senior Sol to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Computer Networks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Senior Sol to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Highly skilled collaborators

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

Training and development

– Senior Sol has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Senior Sol comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Computer Networks 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.

Analytics focus

– Senior Sol 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 Computer Networks 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.

Ability to lead change in Computer Networks

– Senior Sol is one of the leading players in the Computer Networks industry in Brazil. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Computer Networks industry in Brazil but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Senior Sol 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 Senior Sol in Computer Networks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Senior Sol is one of the leading players in the Computer Networks 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Innovation driven organization

– Senior Sol is one of the most innovative firm in Computer Networks sector.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Senior Sol 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.

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Weaknesses of Senior Sol | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Senior Sol are -

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Senior Sol has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Computer Networks industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Computer Networks industry, Senior Sol 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 Senior Sol is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Computer Networks industry, but Senior Sol needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Senior Sol to focus more on services in the Computer Networks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Employees’ less understanding of Senior Sol strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Senior Sol 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.

Skills based hiring in Computer Networks industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Senior Sol 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Senior Sol 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

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

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Senior Sol is just above the Computer Networks 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 dependence on Senior Sol ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Senior Sol still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Computer Networks industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Senior Sol has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Lack of clear differentiation of Senior Sol products

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

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Senior Sol Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Senior Sol are -

Increase in government spending

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

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

Loyalty marketing

– Senior Sol 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Senior Sol can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Computer Networks 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Senior Sol is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Senior Sol can utilize new technology in the field of Computer Networks 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 Computer Networks industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Senior Sol in the Computer Networks industry. Now Senior Sol can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Senior Sol 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Senior Sol 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 Senior Sol to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

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. Senior Sol can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Senior Sol 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 Computer Networks industry.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Senior Sol to increase its market reach. Senior Sol 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Senior Sol 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.

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Threats Senior Sol External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Senior Sol 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 Senior Sol business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Computer Networks industry are lowering. It can presents Senior Sol with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Computer Networks 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 Senior Sol in the Computer Networks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Senior Sol.

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.

Environmental challenges

– Senior Sol 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. Senior Sol can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Computer Networks 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. Senior Sol needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Networks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Senior Sol is facing in Computer Networks sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

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

Increasing wage structure of Senior Sol

– 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 Senior Sol.

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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Senior Sol in Computer Networks industry. The Computer Networks 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Senior Sol 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 Senior Sol prominent markets.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Senior Sol Template, Example

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

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