Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref
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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref
Strengths of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref are -
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
Organizational Resilience of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
Analytics focus
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref in the sector have low bargaining power. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref in the industry. Now Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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.
Threats Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref are -
Regulatory challenges
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 industry and other sectors.
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.
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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 sector.
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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr 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 Entergy Arkansas Inc Pr Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
