SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Diana Containerships (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Diana Containerships is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Diana Containerships
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Diana Containerships can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Diana Containerships, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Diana Containerships
2. Improving business portfolio management of Diana Containerships
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Water Transportation sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Diana Containerships
Strengths of Diana Containerships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Diana Containerships are -
Training and development
– Diana Containerships has one of the best training and development program in Transportation 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.
Ability to lead change in Water Transportation
– Diana Containerships is one of the leading players in the Water Transportation industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Water Transportation industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Diana Containerships in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Diana Containerships is present in almost all the verticals within the Water Transportation industry. This has provided Diana Containerships 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Diana Containerships is one of the most innovative firm in Water Transportation sector.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Diana Containerships 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Diana Containerships has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Water Transportation industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Diana Containerships have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Water Transportation industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Diana Containerships digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Diana Containerships 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.
High brand equity
– Diana Containerships has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Diana Containerships to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Diana Containerships 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 Water Transportation 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)
– Diana Containerships has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Diana Containerships staying ahead in the Water Transportation industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Water Transportation industry
– Diana Containerships has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Diana Containerships to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Water Transportation industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Diana Containerships to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Diana Containerships is one of the leading players in the Water Transportation industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses of Diana Containerships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Diana Containerships are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Diana Containerships is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Diana Containerships to provide better information regarding Water Transportation products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Diana Containerships has high operating costs in the Water Transportation industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Diana Containerships lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Diana Containerships products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Diana Containerships needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Water Transportation industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Diana Containerships 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 Water Transportation industry.
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 Diana Containerships supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Diana Containerships is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Diana Containerships vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Diana Containerships 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Diana Containerships has some of the most successful models in the Water Transportation industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Diana Containerships should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Diana Containerships has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Water Transportation industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Diana Containerships needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Water Transportation industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Diana Containerships can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Diana Containerships is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Water Transportation industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Diana Containerships 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Diana Containerships is just above the Water Transportation 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.
Diana Containerships Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Diana Containerships are -
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Diana Containerships to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Buying journey improvements
– Diana Containerships can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Water Transportation 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Water Transportation industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Diana Containerships can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Diana Containerships has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Water Transportation sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Diana Containerships to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Diana Containerships 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, Diana Containerships can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Diana Containerships operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Water Transportation sector.
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. Diana Containerships can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Diana Containerships 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Diana Containerships 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Diana Containerships 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 Water Transportation industry.
Manufacturing automation
– Diana Containerships can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Water Transportation 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Water Transportation industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Diana Containerships 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. Diana Containerships 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Diana Containerships can develop new processes and procedures in Water Transportation 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.
Threats Diana Containerships External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Diana Containerships are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Diana Containerships 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Diana Containerships may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Water Transportation sector.
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 Diana Containerships in the Water Transportation sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Diana Containerships is facing in Water Transportation sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Diana Containerships.
Environmental challenges
– Diana Containerships 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. Diana Containerships can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Water Transportation industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships prominent markets.
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. Diana Containerships needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Transportation industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Diana Containerships 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 Water Transportation 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 Diana Containerships business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Water Transportation industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Diana Containerships can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Diana Containerships 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 Water Transportation industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Diana Containerships Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships 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 Diana Containerships needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.