TERRA SANTA ON (TESA3) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Crops
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for TERRA SANTA ON (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , TERRA SANTA ON is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, 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, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that TERRA SANTA ON can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the TERRA SANTA ON, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which TERRA SANTA 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.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of TERRA SANTA ON can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of TERRA SANTA ON
2. Improving business portfolio management of TERRA SANTA ON
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a Crops sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of TERRA SANTA ON
Strengths of TERRA SANTA ON | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of TERRA SANTA ON are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– TERRA SANTA ON has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Crops industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of TERRA SANTA ON have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Crops industry
– TERRA SANTA 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Crops industry
– TERRA SANTA ON has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled TERRA SANTA ON to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Crops industry. The sustainable margins have also helped TERRA SANTA ON to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– TERRA SANTA ON has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – TERRA SANTA ON staying ahead in the Crops industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– TERRA SANTA ON is present in almost all the verticals within the Crops industry. This has provided TERRA SANTA 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.
High brand equity
– TERRA SANTA ON has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled TERRA SANTA ON to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of TERRA SANTA ON in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. TERRA SANTA ON has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps TERRA SANTA ON to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- TERRA SANTA 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 TERRA SANTA ON is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at TERRA SANTA ON emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of TERRA SANTA ON
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing TERRA SANTA ON does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– TERRA SANTA ON has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical 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
– TERRA SANTA ON is one of the leading players in the Crops 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of TERRA SANTA ON comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Crops 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.
Weaknesses of TERRA SANTA ON | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TERRA SANTA ON are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brazil, TERRA SANTA ON needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Crops industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Brazil, TERRA SANTA ON is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Crops industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that TERRA SANTA ON needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Crops industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at TERRA SANTA ON can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as TERRA SANTA ON is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As TERRA SANTA ON is one of the leading players in the Crops industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Crops industry in last five years.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of TERRA SANTA ON, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Crops 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, TERRA SANTA 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 Crops industry over the last five years. TERRA SANTA 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at TERRA SANTA ON, in the dynamic environment of Crops industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. TERRA SANTA ON has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of TERRA SANTA ON is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Crops industry, but TERRA SANTA ON needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help TERRA SANTA ON to focus more on services in the Crops industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
TERRA SANTA ON has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Crops industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Skills based hiring in Crops industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at TERRA SANTA ON 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.
Need for greater diversity
– TERRA SANTA ON 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.
TERRA SANTA ON Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of TERRA SANTA 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 TERRA SANTA 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of TERRA SANTA ON has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Crops industry. This can help TERRA SANTA ON to build a more holistic ecosystem for TERRA SANTA ON products in the Crops industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, TERRA SANTA ON 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.
Buying journey improvements
– TERRA SANTA ON can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Crops 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.
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. TERRA SANTA ON can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for TERRA SANTA 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 Crops industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– TERRA SANTA ON can develop new processes and procedures in Crops 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help TERRA SANTA ON to increase its market reach. TERRA SANTA 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at TERRA SANTA ON 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 Crops industry.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects TERRA SANTA ON can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– TERRA SANTA 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, TERRA SANTA ON can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that TERRA SANTA ON operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Crops sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Crops industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for TERRA SANTA ON in the Crops industry. Now TERRA SANTA ON can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats TERRA SANTA ON External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of TERRA SANTA ON 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 TERRA SANTA ON business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on TERRA SANTA 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 Crops industry and other sectors.
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. TERRA SANTA ON needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Crops industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– TERRA SANTA 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 Crops industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, TERRA SANTA ON 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 TERRA SANTA ON prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– TERRA SANTA 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 Crops industry.
Increasing wage structure of TERRA SANTA ON
– 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 TERRA SANTA ON.
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 TERRA SANTA ON in the Crops sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that TERRA SANTA ON is facing in Crops sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– TERRA SANTA 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, TERRA SANTA 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 Crops sector.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for TERRA SANTA ON in Crops industry. The Crops 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TERRA SANTA ON Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at TERRA SANTA 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 TERRA SANTA 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 TERRA SANTA 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 TERRA SANTA 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 TERRA SANTA ON needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.