China Natural Cmn (CHNGQ) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Natural Gas Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for China Natural Cmn (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , China Natural Cmn is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of China Natural Cmn
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that China Natural Cmn can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the China Natural Cmn, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of China Natural Cmn
2. Improving business portfolio management of China Natural Cmn
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Natural Gas Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of China Natural Cmn
Strengths of China Natural Cmn | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of China Natural Cmn are -
Diverse revenue streams
– China Natural Cmn is present in almost all the verticals within the Natural Gas Utilities industry. This has provided China Natural Cmn 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Natural Gas Utilities industry
– China Natural Cmn is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– China Natural Cmn has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Natural Gas Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of China Natural Cmn have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– China Natural Cmn has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – China Natural Cmn staying ahead in the Natural Gas Utilities 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 China Natural Cmn 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of China Natural Cmn in Natural Gas Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Natural Gas Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For China Natural Cmn digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. China Natural Cmn 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of China Natural Cmn in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. China Natural Cmn has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps China Natural Cmn to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– China Natural Cmn is one of the most innovative firm in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Organizational Resilience of China Natural Cmn
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing China Natural Cmn does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– China Natural Cmn has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled China Natural Cmn to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped China Natural Cmn to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– China Natural Cmn has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. China Natural Cmn 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.
Weaknesses of China Natural Cmn | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of China Natural Cmn are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, China Natural Cmn is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help China Natural Cmn to provide better information regarding Natural Gas Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
China Natural Cmn has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though China Natural Cmn has some of the most successful models in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. China Natural Cmn should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of China Natural Cmn is just above the Natural Gas Utilities 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, China Natural Cmn has high operating costs in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract China Natural Cmn lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of China Natural Cmn, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Natural Gas Utilities 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 dependence on China Natural Cmn ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of China Natural Cmn still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Natural Gas Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though China Natural Cmn has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of China Natural Cmn is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, but China Natural Cmn needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help China Natural Cmn to focus more on services in the Natural Gas Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 China Natural Cmn supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, China Natural Cmn is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left China Natural Cmn vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, China Natural Cmn needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at China Natural Cmn has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
China Natural Cmn Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of China Natural Cmn are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. China Natural Cmn can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– China Natural Cmn can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for China Natural Cmn in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. Now China Natural Cmn can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– China Natural Cmn has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Natural Gas Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled China Natural Cmn to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help China Natural Cmn 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, China Natural Cmn can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that China Natural Cmn operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, China Natural Cmn 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.
Manufacturing automation
– China Natural Cmn can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects China Natural Cmn can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at China Natural Cmn 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– China Natural Cmn 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of China Natural Cmn has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can help China Natural Cmn to build a more holistic ecosystem for China Natural Cmn products in the Natural Gas Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. China Natural Cmn can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats China Natural Cmn External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of China Natural Cmn are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– China Natural Cmn 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for China Natural Cmn in Natural Gas Utilities industry. The Natural Gas Utilities 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.
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 China Natural Cmn.
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 China Natural Cmn in the Natural Gas Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on China Natural Cmn 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry and other sectors.
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. China Natural Cmn 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.
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 China Natural Cmn business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that China Natural Cmn is facing in Natural Gas Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
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. China Natural Cmn needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Natural Gas Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Natural Gas Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. China Natural Cmn can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of China Natural Cmn Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn 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 China Natural Cmn needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
