SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Salesforce.com DRC (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Salesforce.com DRC is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Salesforce.com DRC
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Salesforce.com DRC can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Salesforce.com DRC, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Salesforce.com DRC
2. Improving business portfolio management of Salesforce.com DRC
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 Salesforce.com DRC
Strengths of Salesforce.com DRC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Salesforce.com DRC are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Salesforce.com DRC is present in almost all the verticals within the NA industry. This has provided Salesforce.com DRC 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.
High brand equity
– Salesforce.com DRC has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Salesforce.com DRC to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Strong track record of project management in the NA industry
– Salesforce.com DRC is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Salesforce.com DRC is one of the most innovative firm in NA sector.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Salesforce.com DRC has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Salesforce.com DRC in NA industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in NA industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Salesforce.com DRC digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Learning organization
- Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Salesforce.com DRC emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in NA industry
– Salesforce.com DRC has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Salesforce.com DRC to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the NA industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Salesforce.com DRC to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Salesforce.com DRC 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Weaknesses of Salesforce.com DRC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Salesforce.com DRC are -
Employees’ less understanding of Salesforce.com DRC strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Salesforce.com DRC 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Salesforce.com DRC products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Salesforce.com DRC needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Salesforce.com DRC, in the dynamic environment of NA industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Salesforce.com DRC has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on Salesforce.com DRC ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Salesforce.com DRC, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact NA 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the NA industry, Salesforce.com DRC 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in NA industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Brazil, Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Salesforce.com DRC 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 NA industry using digital technology.
Salesforce.com DRC Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Salesforce.com DRC are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC to increase its market reach. Salesforce.com DRC 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.
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. Salesforce.com DRC can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Salesforce.com DRC can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Salesforce.com DRC operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in NA sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Salesforce.com DRC can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the NA industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Salesforce.com DRC 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. Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Salesforce.com DRC to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Salesforce.com DRC can develop new processes and procedures in NA 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.
Threats Salesforce.com DRC External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Salesforce.com DRC are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Salesforce.com DRC has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the NA industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Environmental challenges
– Salesforce.com DRC 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. Salesforce.com DRC can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the NA industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Salesforce.com DRC may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of NA sector.
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 Salesforce.com DRC.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC prominent markets.
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.
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 Salesforce.com DRC in the NA sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Salesforce.com DRC 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Salesforce.com DRC 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 NA industry and other sectors.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to NA industry are lowering. It can presents Salesforce.com DRC with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the NA sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Salesforce.com DRC 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.
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. Salesforce.com DRC needs to understand the core reasons impacting the NA 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Salesforce.com DRC Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC 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 Salesforce.com DRC needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.