Blue Line Protection (BLPG) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Security Systems & Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Blue Line Protection (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Blue Line Protection is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Blue Line Protection
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Blue Line Protection can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Blue Line Protection, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Blue Line Protection
2. Improving business portfolio management of Blue Line Protection
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Security Systems & Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Blue Line Protection
Strengths of Blue Line Protection | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Blue Line Protection are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Blue Line Protection has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Security Systems & Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Blue Line Protection have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Blue Line Protection is one of the leading players in the Security Systems & Services 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Blue Line Protection 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Blue Line Protection has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Blue Line Protection 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Blue Line Protection has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Blue Line Protection staying ahead in the Security Systems & Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Blue Line Protection comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Security Systems & Services 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Security Systems & Services industry
– Blue Line Protection has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Blue Line Protection to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Security Systems & Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Blue Line Protection to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Blue Line Protection 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.
Organizational Resilience of Blue Line Protection
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Blue Line Protection does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Blue Line Protection in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Blue Line Protection has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Blue Line Protection to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Blue Line Protection in Security Systems & Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Blue Line Protection emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Blue Line Protection | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Blue Line Protection are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Blue Line Protection products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Blue Line Protection needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Blue Line Protection is just above the Security Systems & Services industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Blue Line Protection has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Security Systems & Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Blue Line Protection, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Security Systems & Services 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 Security Systems & Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Blue Line Protection 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 Security Systems & Services industry.
High dependence on Blue Line Protection ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Blue Line Protection still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Security Systems & Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Blue Line Protection has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Blue Line Protection is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Blue Line Protection to provide better information regarding Security Systems & Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Blue Line Protection 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 Security Systems & Services industry using digital technology.
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 Blue Line Protection supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Blue Line Protection is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Blue Line Protection vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Blue Line Protection has some of the most successful models in the Security Systems & Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Blue Line Protection should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Blue Line Protection needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Blue Line Protection Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Blue Line Protection are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Security Systems & Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Blue Line Protection 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. Blue Line Protection 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Blue Line Protection can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Security Systems & Services 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 Security Systems & Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Blue Line Protection in the Security Systems & Services industry. Now Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Blue Line Protection is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Blue Line Protection can utilize new technology in the field of Security Systems & Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Blue Line Protection has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Security Systems & Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Blue Line Protection to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Blue Line Protection to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Blue Line Protection can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Blue Line Protection operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Security Systems & Services sector.
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. Blue Line Protection can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Blue Line Protection in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Security Systems & Services 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 Blue Line Protection can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Blue Line Protection has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Security Systems & Services industry. This can help Blue Line Protection to build a more holistic ecosystem for Blue Line Protection products in the Security Systems & Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Blue Line Protection 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 Security Systems & Services industry.
Threats Blue Line Protection External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Blue Line Protection are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Blue Line Protection in Security Systems & Services industry. The Security Systems & Services 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Blue Line Protection 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 Security Systems & Services industry and other sectors.
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 Blue Line Protection in the Security Systems & Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Security Systems & Services industry are lowering. It can presents Blue Line Protection with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Security Systems & Services sector.
Environmental challenges
– Blue Line Protection 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. Blue Line Protection can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Security Systems & Services 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 Blue Line Protection.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Security Systems & Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Blue Line Protection can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Blue Line Protection needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Security Systems & Services 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Blue Line Protection has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Security Systems & Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Blue Line Protection needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Security Systems & Services 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Blue Line Protection 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 Security Systems & Services industry.
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. Blue Line Protection 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Blue Line Protection Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection 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 Blue Line Protection needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.