Colony NorthStar Pref I (CLNY_pi) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Colony NorthStar Pref I (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Colony NorthStar Pref I is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Colony NorthStar Pref I
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Colony NorthStar Pref I can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Colony NorthStar Pref I, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Colony NorthStar Pref I
2. Improving business portfolio management of Colony NorthStar Pref I
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 Colony NorthStar Pref I
Strengths of Colony NorthStar Pref I | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Colony NorthStar Pref I are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Colony NorthStar Pref I has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Colony NorthStar Pref I digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I in the sector have low bargaining power. Colony NorthStar Pref I has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Colony NorthStar Pref I to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Colony NorthStar Pref I
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Colony NorthStar Pref I does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Colony NorthStar Pref I is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Training and development
– Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Colony NorthStar Pref I in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Colony NorthStar Pref I has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Colony NorthStar Pref I to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Colony NorthStar Pref I to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Colony NorthStar Pref I has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Colony NorthStar Pref I to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Colony NorthStar Pref I | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Colony NorthStar Pref I are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Colony NorthStar Pref I is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
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 Colony NorthStar Pref I supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Colony NorthStar Pref I is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Colony NorthStar Pref I vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Colony NorthStar Pref I has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Colony NorthStar Pref I, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Colony NorthStar Pref I has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Colony NorthStar Pref I is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Colony NorthStar Pref I is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Colony NorthStar Pref I needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Colony NorthStar Pref I to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Colony NorthStar Pref I Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Colony NorthStar Pref I are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Colony NorthStar Pref I in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I 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, Colony NorthStar Pref I is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Colony NorthStar Pref I can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
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. Colony NorthStar Pref I 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. Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
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. Colony NorthStar Pref I can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
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. Colony NorthStar Pref I can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Colony NorthStar Pref I in the industry. Now Colony NorthStar Pref I can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Colony NorthStar Pref I can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Colony NorthStar Pref I operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Colony NorthStar Pref I has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Colony NorthStar Pref I to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Colony NorthStar Pref I to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Colony NorthStar Pref I External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I in the 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. Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Colony NorthStar Pref I can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Colony NorthStar Pref I in industry. The 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Colony NorthStar Pref I is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Colony NorthStar Pref I.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Colony NorthStar Pref I
– 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Colony NorthStar Pref I has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
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. Colony NorthStar Pref I needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Colony NorthStar Pref I 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Colony NorthStar Pref I Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I 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 Colony NorthStar Pref I needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.