SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Bloomin Brands (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bloomin Brands is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
there is backlash against globalization, 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 Bloomin Brands can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bloomin Brands, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bloomin Brands
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bloomin Brands
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Conglomerates sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bloomin Brands
Strengths of Bloomin Brands | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bloomin Brands are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bloomin Brands is one of the leading players in the Conglomerates 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bloomin Brands in the Conglomerates sector have low bargaining power. Bloomin Brands has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bloomin Brands to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bloomin Brands is present in almost all the verticals within the Conglomerates industry. This has provided Bloomin Brands 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.
Training and development
– Bloomin Brands has one of the best training and development program in Conglomerates 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bloomin Brands has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Bloomin Brands staying ahead in the Conglomerates industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bloomin Brands has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Conglomerates industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Bloomin Brands have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Bloomin Brands emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bloomin Brands 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Conglomerates industry
– Bloomin Brands 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 Conglomerates
– Bloomin Brands is one of the leading players in the Conglomerates industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Conglomerates industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Bloomin Brands in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Bloomin Brands has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bloomin Brands to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Bloomin Brands is one of the most innovative firm in Conglomerates sector.
Weaknesses of Bloomin Brands | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bloomin Brands are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Conglomerates 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bloomin Brands is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Conglomerates industry, but Bloomin Brands needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bloomin Brands to focus more on services in the Conglomerates industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bloomin Brands is one of the leading players in the Conglomerates industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Conglomerates industry in last five years.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bloomin Brands is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Bloomin Brands to provide better information regarding Conglomerates products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Bloomin Brands, in the dynamic environment of Conglomerates industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bloomin Brands has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Conglomerates industry, Bloomin Brands 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 Conglomerates industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Bloomin Brands 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 Conglomerates industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Bloomin Brands has high operating costs in the Conglomerates industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Bloomin Brands lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bloomin Brands has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Conglomerates industry over the last five years. Bloomin Brands 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Bloomin Brands strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Bloomin Brands 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.
Bloomin Brands Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bloomin Brands are -
Manufacturing automation
– Bloomin Brands can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Conglomerates 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Conglomerates industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bloomin Brands in the Conglomerates industry. Now Bloomin Brands can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bloomin Brands can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bloomin Brands operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Conglomerates sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bloomin Brands can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Conglomerates industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bloomin Brands 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. Bloomin Brands 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bloomin Brands to increase its market reach. Bloomin Brands 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bloomin Brands is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bloomin Brands can utilize new technology in the field of Conglomerates 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 Bloomin Brands 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bloomin Brands can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Conglomerates 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bloomin Brands can develop new processes and procedures in Conglomerates 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bloomin Brands in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Conglomerates industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Bloomin Brands External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bloomin Brands are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bloomin Brands may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Conglomerates sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bloomin Brands 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 Conglomerates industry and other sectors.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bloomin Brands has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Conglomerates industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bloomin Brands needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Conglomerates 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bloomin Brands is facing in Conglomerates sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Bloomin Brands 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 Conglomerates industry regulations.
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 Bloomin Brands in the Conglomerates sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Bloomin Brands needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Conglomerates industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Conglomerates industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bloomin Brands can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bloomin Brands 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands prominent markets.
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 Bloomin Brands.
Environmental challenges
– Bloomin Brands 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. Bloomin Brands can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Conglomerates industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bloomin Brands in Conglomerates industry. The Conglomerates 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bloomin Brands Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands 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 Bloomin Brands needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.