Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, 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 -
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
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.
High brand equity
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
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.
Training and development
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
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.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR, 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.
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 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
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.
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 -
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. Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR 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.
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.
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 Compagnie Saint-Gobain ADR in the sector and impact the bottomline 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 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.
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.