Asia Pacific Satellite Communications (211270) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Communications Equipment
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Asia Pacific Satellite Communications (South Korea)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Asia Pacific Satellite Communications, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications
2. Improving business portfolio management of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Korea
4. Making a Communications Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications
Strengths of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Training and development
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is one of the leading players in the Communications 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Communications 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Equipment sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Communications Equipment industry
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Asia Pacific Satellite Communications staying ahead in the Communications Equipment industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Communications Equipment
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is one of the leading players in the Communications Equipment industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Communications Equipment industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Asia Pacific Satellite Communications in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Communications 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications are -
Need for greater diversity
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has some of the most successful models in the Communications Equipment industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring in Communications Equipment industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to provide better information regarding Communications Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is just above the Communications 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Asia Pacific Satellite Communications needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Communications Equipment industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ less understanding of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Communications Equipment industry, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communications Equipment industry, but Asia Pacific Satellite Communications needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to focus more on services in the Communications Equipment industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Communications Equipment industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Asia Pacific Satellite Communications Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Communications Equipment 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Communications Equipment industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Asia Pacific Satellite Communications in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communications Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Communications Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communications 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Communications Equipment industry.
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. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications can develop new processes and procedures in Communications 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
Threats Asia Pacific Satellite Communications External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communications Equipment sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications
– 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Communications Equipment industry and other sectors.
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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications.
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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications in the Communications Equipment sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Communications Equipment 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. Asia Pacific Satellite Communications needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communications Equipment industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Communications Equipment industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Asia Pacific Satellite Communications Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 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 Asia Pacific Satellite Communications needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
