INFOvine (115310) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for INFOvine (South Korea)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , INFOvine is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of INFOvine

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

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

The strengths of INFOvine are -

Organizational Resilience of INFOvine

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing INFOvine does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Innovation driven organization

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

Analytics focus

– INFOvine 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 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– INFOvine 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 INFOvine have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Ability to lead change in Computer Networks

– INFOvine is one of the leading players in the Computer Networks industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Computer Networks industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled INFOvine in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Networks industry

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

Strong track record of project management in the Computer Networks industry

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

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of INFOvine in Computer Networks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Diverse revenue streams

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– INFOvine is one of the leading players in the Computer Networks 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.

High brand equity

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

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

The weaknesses of INFOvine are -

Employees’ less understanding of INFOvine strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of INFOvine 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.

Need for greater diversity

– INFOvine 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, INFOvine has high operating costs in the Computer Networks industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract INFOvine lucrative customers.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, INFOvine has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Computer Networks industry over the last five years. INFOvine 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

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

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

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, INFOvine has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Computer Networks industry using digital technology.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of South Korea, INFOvine needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

INFOvine 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of INFOvine products

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

Products dominated business model

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

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

The opportunities of INFOvine are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of INFOvine has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Computer Networks industry. This can help INFOvine to build a more holistic ecosystem for INFOvine products in the Computer Networks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Better consumer reach

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

Loyalty marketing

– INFOvine 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.

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

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 INFOvine in the Computer Networks industry. Now INFOvine can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Developing new processes and practices

– INFOvine can develop new processes and procedures in Computer Networks 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

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

Increase in government spending

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

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Computer Networks industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. INFOvine 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. INFOvine 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– INFOvine 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 INFOvine to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help INFOvine to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Buying journey improvements

– INFOvine 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.

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. INFOvine can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for INFOvine in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Computer Networks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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

The threats of INFOvine are -

Environmental challenges

– INFOvine 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. INFOvine 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. INFOvine needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Networks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for INFOvine 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on INFOvine 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 Computer Networks industry and other sectors.

Increasing wage structure of INFOvine

– 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 INFOvine.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– INFOvine has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Networks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, INFOvine needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer Networks 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.

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 INFOvine business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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.

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.

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. INFOvine 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– INFOvine 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– INFOvine 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 Computer Networks industry.

Easy access to finance

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

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of INFOvine Template, Example

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

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