Uangel (72130) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Uangel (South Korea)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Uangel is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Uangel

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Uangel can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Uangel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Uangel 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 Uangel can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Uangel
2. Improving business portfolio management of Uangel
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 Uangel

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

The strengths of Uangel are -

Learning organization

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

Strong track record of project management in the Computer Networks industry

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

Ability to lead change in Computer Networks

– Uangel 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 Uangel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Uangel 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.

Superior customer experience

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

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Uangel 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.

Analytics focus

– Uangel 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Uangel 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.

Organizational Resilience of Uangel

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

High brand equity

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Networks industry

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

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

The weaknesses of Uangel are -

High dependence on Uangel ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Uangel 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 Uangel has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Uangel 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 Uangel can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Uangel is planning to shift buying processes online.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Uangel, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Computer Networks 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.

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

Employees’ less understanding of Uangel strategy

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

Low market penetration in new markets

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

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Uangel 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. Uangel 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Uangel 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Uangel 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 Uangel lucrative customers.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Uangel is one of the leading players in the Computer Networks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Computer Networks industry in last five years.

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

The opportunities of Uangel are -

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

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Uangel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Uangel 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Uangel 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Uangel 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, Uangel 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 Uangel to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Uangel 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.

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

Better consumer reach

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

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Uangel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Uangel 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. Uangel 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. Uangel 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

Low interest rates

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

Manufacturing automation

– Uangel can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Computer Networks 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.

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

The threats of Uangel are -

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. Uangel 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 Uangel is facing in Computer Networks sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

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

Increasing wage structure of Uangel

– 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 Uangel.

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

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

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

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Uangel has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Networks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Uangel 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Uangel 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Uangel 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.

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. Uangel can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Uangel 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Uangel 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Uangel Template, Example

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

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