IBKS No.8 Special (277410) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for IBKS No.8 Special (South Korea)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , IBKS No.8 Special is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBKS No.8 Special

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that IBKS No.8 Special can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the IBKS No.8 Special, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of IBKS No.8 Special
2. Improving business portfolio management of IBKS No.8 Special
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Korea
4. Making a Food Processing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of IBKS No.8 Special

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Strengths of IBKS No.8 Special | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of IBKS No.8 Special are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– IBKS No.8 Special has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – IBKS No.8 Special staying ahead in the Food Processing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Strong track record of project management in the Food Processing industry

– IBKS No.8 Special is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High brand equity

– IBKS No.8 Special has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled IBKS No.8 Special to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Learning organization

- IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at IBKS No.8 Special emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Food Processing industry

– IBKS No.8 Special has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled IBKS No.8 Special to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Food Processing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped IBKS No.8 Special to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– IBKS No.8 Special is one of the leading players in the Food Processing 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of IBKS No.8 Special in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. IBKS No.8 Special has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps IBKS No.8 Special to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Ability to lead change in Food Processing

– IBKS No.8 Special is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Food Processing industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled IBKS No.8 Special in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Successful track record of launching new products

– IBKS No.8 Special has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of IBKS No.8 Special in Food Processing 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 IBKS No.8 Special 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.

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Weaknesses of IBKS No.8 Special | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of IBKS No.8 Special are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of South Korea, IBKS No.8 Special needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, IBKS No.8 Special has high operating costs in the Food Processing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract IBKS No.8 Special lucrative customers.

Employees’ less understanding of IBKS No.8 Special strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that IBKS No.8 Special needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Food Processing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at IBKS No.8 Special can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as IBKS No.8 Special is planning to shift buying processes online.

Lack of clear differentiation of IBKS No.8 Special products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, IBKS No.8 Special needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, IBKS No.8 Special 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of IBKS No.8 Special, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Food Processing 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Food Processing industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in South Korea, IBKS No.8 Special 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 Food Processing industry.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As IBKS No.8 Special is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Food Processing industry in last five years.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at IBKS No.8 Special, in the dynamic environment of Food Processing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. IBKS No.8 Special has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

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 IBKS No.8 Special supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, IBKS No.8 Special is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left IBKS No.8 Special vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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IBKS No.8 Special Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of IBKS No.8 Special are -

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Food Processing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. IBKS No.8 Special can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of IBKS No.8 Special has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Food Processing industry. This can help IBKS No.8 Special to build a more holistic ecosystem for IBKS No.8 Special products in the Food Processing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– IBKS No.8 Special can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Food Processing 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help IBKS No.8 Special to increase its market reach. IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Buying journey improvements

– IBKS No.8 Special can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Food Processing 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 Food Processing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. IBKS No.8 Special 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. IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects IBKS No.8 Special can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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 IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at IBKS No.8 Special 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 Food Processing industry.

Developing new processes and practices

– IBKS No.8 Special can develop new processes and procedures in Food Processing 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Loyalty marketing

– IBKS No.8 Special 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.

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Threats IBKS No.8 Special External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of IBKS No.8 Special are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for IBKS No.8 Special in Food Processing industry. The Food Processing 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– IBKS No.8 Special 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.

Environmental challenges

– IBKS No.8 Special 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. IBKS No.8 Special can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Food Processing industry.

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 IBKS No.8 Special.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– IBKS No.8 Special 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 Food Processing industry.

Increasing wage structure of IBKS No.8 Special

– 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 IBKS No.8 Special.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that IBKS No.8 Special is facing in Food Processing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Food Processing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. IBKS No.8 Special can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 IBKS No.8 Special in the Food Processing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 IBKS No.8 Special business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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. IBKS No.8 Special needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Food Processing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, IBKS No.8 Special may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Food Processing sector.

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. IBKS No.8 Special 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBKS No.8 Special Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special 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 IBKS No.8 Special needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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