E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref (DD_pb) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref
Strengths of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref are -
Strong track record of project management in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is present in almost all the verticals within the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. This has provided E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Innovation driven organization
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is one of the most innovative firm in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector.
Learning organization
- E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Training and development
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. The sustainable margins have also helped E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref staying ahead in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref are -
Skills based hiring in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is just above the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref is one of the leading players in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has some of the most successful models in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has high operating costs in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref lucrative customers.
E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref are -
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. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. Now E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector.
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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. This can help E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref products in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref are -
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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry are lowering. It can presents E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
Environmental challenges
– E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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. E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry.
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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector and impact the bottomline 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref 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 E I du Pont de Nemours Pb Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.