Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , ACN 112 682 158 is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that ACN 112 682 158 can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the ACN 112 682 158, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of ACN 112 682 158
2. Improving business portfolio management of ACN 112 682 158
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Coal sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of ACN 112 682 158
Strengths of ACN 112 682 158 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of ACN 112 682 158 are -
Training and development
– ACN 112 682 158 has one of the best training and development program in Energy 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Coal industry
– ACN 112 682 158 has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled ACN 112 682 158 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Coal industry. The sustainable margins have also helped ACN 112 682 158 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– ACN 112 682 158 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled ACN 112 682 158 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that ACN 112 682 158 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.
Learning organization
- ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at ACN 112 682 158 emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of ACN 112 682 158 in Coal industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of ACN 112 682 158 in the Energy sector have low bargaining power. ACN 112 682 158 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps ACN 112 682 158 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Coal industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For ACN 112 682 158 digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. ACN 112 682 158 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– ACN 112 682 158 is present in almost all the verticals within the Coal industry. This has provided ACN 112 682 158 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing ACN 112 682 158 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– ACN 112 682 158 is one of the most innovative firm in Coal sector.
Weaknesses of ACN 112 682 158 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ACN 112 682 158 are -
Need for greater diversity
– ACN 112 682 158 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.
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 ACN 112 682 158 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, ACN 112 682 158 is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left ACN 112 682 158 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Coal industry, ACN 112 682 158 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that ACN 112 682 158 needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Coal industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at ACN 112 682 158 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as ACN 112 682 158 is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Coal industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at ACN 112 682 158 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of ACN 112 682 158, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Coal 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of ACN 112 682 158 is just above the Coal 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of ACN 112 682 158 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Coal industry, but ACN 112 682 158 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help ACN 112 682 158 to focus more on services in the Coal industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, ACN 112 682 158 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, ACN 112 682 158 is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help ACN 112 682 158 to provide better information regarding Coal products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, ACN 112 682 158 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
ACN 112 682 158 Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of ACN 112 682 158 are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, ACN 112 682 158 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ACN 112 682 158 can utilize new technology in the field of Coal industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– ACN 112 682 158 can develop new processes and procedures in Coal 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Coal industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. ACN 112 682 158 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– ACN 112 682 158 can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Coal 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, ACN 112 682 158 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– ACN 112 682 158 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Coal industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for ACN 112 682 158 in the Coal industry. Now ACN 112 682 158 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– ACN 112 682 158 has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Coal sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled ACN 112 682 158 to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help ACN 112 682 158 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– ACN 112 682 158 has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at ACN 112 682 158 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 Coal industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of ACN 112 682 158 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Coal industry. This can help ACN 112 682 158 to build a more holistic ecosystem for ACN 112 682 158 products in the Coal industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for ACN 112 682 158 in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Coal industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats ACN 112 682 158 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of ACN 112 682 158 are -
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 ACN 112 682 158 in the Coal sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. ACN 112 682 158 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for ACN 112 682 158 in Coal industry. The Coal 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– ACN 112 682 158 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 Coal industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– ACN 112 682 158 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.
Environmental challenges
– ACN 112 682 158 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. ACN 112 682 158 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Coal industry.
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 ACN 112 682 158 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that ACN 112 682 158 is facing in Coal sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– ACN 112 682 158 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 Coal industry regulations.
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 ACN 112 682 158.
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 ACN 112 682 158 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 Coal industry and other sectors.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ACN 112 682 158 Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 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 ACN 112 682 158 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
