SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for FII SDI LOG (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , FII SDI LOG is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that FII SDI LOG can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the FII SDI LOG, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of FII SDI LOG
2. Improving business portfolio management of FII SDI LOG
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a NA sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of FII SDI LOG
Strengths of FII SDI LOG | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of FII SDI LOG are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– FII SDI LOG is one of the leading players in the NA 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 FII SDI LOG comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the NA 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– FII SDI LOG has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – FII SDI LOG staying ahead in the NA industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that FII SDI LOG 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.
Digital Transformation in NA industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For FII SDI LOG digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. FII SDI LOG 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.
Analytics focus
– FII SDI LOG 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 NA industry. The technology infrastructure of Brazil 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.
Innovation driven organization
– FII SDI LOG is one of the most innovative firm in NA sector.
Highly skilled collaborators
– FII SDI LOG has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive NA industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of FII SDI LOG have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of FII SDI LOG
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing FII SDI LOG does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of FII SDI LOG in NA industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– FII SDI LOG has one of the best training and development program in NA 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in NA industry
– FII SDI LOG has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled FII SDI LOG to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the NA industry. The sustainable margins have also helped FII SDI LOG to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of FII SDI LOG | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of FII SDI LOG are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, FII SDI LOG 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, FII SDI LOG has high operating costs in the NA industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract FII SDI LOG lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brazil, FII SDI LOG needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners in NA industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Brazil, FII SDI LOG 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 NA industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at FII SDI LOG, in the dynamic environment of NA industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. FII SDI LOG has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ less understanding of FII SDI LOG strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of FII SDI LOG 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.
High dependence on FII SDI LOG ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of FII SDI LOG still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in NA industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though FII SDI LOG has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though FII SDI LOG has some of the most successful models in the NA industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. FII SDI LOG should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
FII SDI LOG has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the NA industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that FII SDI LOG needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the NA industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at FII SDI LOG can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as FII SDI LOG is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of FII SDI LOG is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the NA industry, but FII SDI LOG needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help FII SDI LOG to focus more on services in the NA industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
FII SDI LOG Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of FII SDI LOG are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for FII SDI LOG in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the NA industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects FII SDI LOG can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in NA industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. FII SDI LOG 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, FII SDI LOG is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. FII SDI LOG can utilize new technology in the field of NA industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. FII SDI LOG can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help FII SDI LOG to increase its market reach. FII SDI LOG 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
– FII SDI LOG can improve the customer journey of consumers in the NA 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, FII SDI LOG 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– FII SDI LOG 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– FII SDI LOG has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in NA sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled FII SDI LOG to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help FII SDI LOG to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at FII SDI LOG 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 NA industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of FII SDI LOG has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in NA industry. This can help FII SDI LOG to build a more holistic ecosystem for FII SDI LOG products in the NA industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats FII SDI LOG External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of FII SDI LOG are -
Environmental challenges
– FII SDI LOG 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. FII SDI LOG can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the NA industry.
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 FII SDI LOG in the NA sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– FII SDI LOG 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 NA industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in NA industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. FII SDI LOG can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 FII SDI LOG.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– FII SDI LOG has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the NA industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, FII SDI LOG needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the NA 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 FII SDI LOG business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– FII SDI LOG 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 NA 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. FII SDI LOG needs to understand the core reasons impacting the NA industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG in NA industry. The NA 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of FII SDI LOG Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG 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 FII SDI LOG needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.