Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR
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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR
Strengths of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Ability to lead change in
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Organizational Resilience of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Weaknesses of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR in the industry. Now Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to increase its market reach. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Threats Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR are -
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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Environmental challenges
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors 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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.