SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Broadside Enterprises (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Broadside Enterprises is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Broadside Enterprises
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Broadside Enterprises can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Broadside Enterprises, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Broadside Enterprises
2. Improving business portfolio management of Broadside Enterprises
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Broadside Enterprises
Strengths of Broadside Enterprises | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Broadside Enterprises are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Broadside Enterprises has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Broadside Enterprises 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.
Training and development
– Broadside Enterprises has one of the best training and development program in 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)
– Broadside Enterprises has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Broadside Enterprises staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Broadside Enterprises is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
High brand equity
– Broadside Enterprises has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Broadside Enterprises to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Broadside Enterprises has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Broadside Enterprises have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Broadside Enterprises has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Broadside Enterprises to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Broadside Enterprises to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Broadside Enterprises emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Broadside Enterprises in the sector have low bargaining power. Broadside Enterprises has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Broadside Enterprises to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Broadside Enterprises is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Broadside Enterprises comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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.
Organizational Resilience of Broadside Enterprises
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Broadside Enterprises does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Broadside Enterprises | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Broadside Enterprises are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Broadside Enterprises needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Broadside Enterprises can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Broadside Enterprises is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Broadside Enterprises 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 industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Broadside Enterprises has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Broadside Enterprises is just above the 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 dependence on Broadside Enterprises ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Broadside Enterprises still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Broadside Enterprises has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Broadside Enterprises is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Broadside Enterprises needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Broadside Enterprises to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Broadside Enterprises 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Broadside Enterprises has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Broadside Enterprises should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Broadside Enterprises supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Broadside Enterprises is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Broadside Enterprises vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact 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.
Broadside Enterprises Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Broadside Enterprises are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Broadside Enterprises 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, Broadside Enterprises can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Broadside Enterprises operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in 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. Broadside Enterprises can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Broadside Enterprises can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Broadside Enterprises to increase its market reach. Broadside Enterprises 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
– Broadside Enterprises can improve the customer journey of consumers in the 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Broadside Enterprises 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. Broadside Enterprises 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Broadside Enterprises to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Developing new processes and practices
– Broadside Enterprises can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Broadside Enterprises 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Broadside Enterprises in the industry. Now Broadside Enterprises can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Broadside Enterprises 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 industry.
Threats Broadside Enterprises External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Broadside Enterprises are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Broadside Enterprises with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Broadside Enterprises may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of sector.
Increasing wage structure of Broadside Enterprises
– 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 Broadside Enterprises.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Broadside Enterprises 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 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. Broadside Enterprises 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Broadside Enterprises 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 industry regulations.
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 Broadside Enterprises business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Broadside Enterprises 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Broadside Enterprises is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Broadside Enterprises has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Broadside Enterprises needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
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.
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 Broadside Enterprises in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Broadside Enterprises Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises 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 Broadside Enterprises needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.