Ampco-Pittsburgh (AP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Fabricated Products
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Ampco-Pittsburgh (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Ampco-Pittsburgh is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Ampco-Pittsburgh can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ampco-Pittsburgh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Ampco-Pittsburgh
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ampco-Pittsburgh
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Misc. Fabricated Products sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ampco-Pittsburgh
Strengths of Ampco-Pittsburgh | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ampco-Pittsburgh are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ampco-Pittsburgh has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Fabricated Products industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Ampco-Pittsburgh have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ampco-Pittsburgh has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ampco-Pittsburgh is one of the leading players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Ampco-Pittsburgh comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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
– Ampco-Pittsburgh is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ampco-Pittsburgh in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Ampco-Pittsburgh has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ampco-Pittsburgh to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ampco-Pittsburgh has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Ampco-Pittsburgh staying ahead in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Learning organization
- Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Ampco-Pittsburgh emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ampco-Pittsburgh digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ampco-Pittsburgh has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ampco-Pittsburgh is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This has provided Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Weaknesses of Ampco-Pittsburgh | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ampco-Pittsburgh are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Ampco-Pittsburgh products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on Ampco-Pittsburgh ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Ampco-Pittsburgh still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Misc. Fabricated Products industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Ampco-Pittsburgh has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ampco-Pittsburgh is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, but Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ampco-Pittsburgh to focus more on services in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Ampco-Pittsburgh can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ampco-Pittsburgh is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ampco-Pittsburgh is one of the leading players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Ampco-Pittsburgh has high operating costs in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ampco-Pittsburgh lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ampco-Pittsburgh has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry over the last five years. Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Ampco-Pittsburgh Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Ampco-Pittsburgh are -
Buying journey improvements
– Ampco-Pittsburgh can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ampco-Pittsburgh has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This can help Ampco-Pittsburgh to build a more holistic ecosystem for Ampco-Pittsburgh products in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Fabricated Products industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ampco-Pittsburgh can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ampco-Pittsburgh can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ampco-Pittsburgh operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ampco-Pittsburgh in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. Now Ampco-Pittsburgh can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Ampco-Pittsburgh can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ampco-Pittsburgh has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Fabricated Products sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Ampco-Pittsburgh to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ampco-Pittsburgh to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ampco-Pittsburgh in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ampco-Pittsburgh to increase its market reach. Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Threats Ampco-Pittsburgh External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Ampco-Pittsburgh are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ampco-Pittsburgh has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
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. Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ampco-Pittsburgh is facing in Misc. Fabricated Products 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry are lowering. It can presents Ampco-Pittsburgh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh prominent markets.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Misc. Fabricated Products industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ampco-Pittsburgh can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Ampco-Pittsburgh 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ampco-Pittsburgh in Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ampco-Pittsburgh
– 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh.
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 Ampco-Pittsburgh business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Ampco-Pittsburgh may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
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 Ampco-Pittsburgh in the Misc. Fabricated Products sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ampco-Pittsburgh Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh 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 Ampco-Pittsburgh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.