SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Steamships Trading (Australia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Steamships Trading is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Steamships Trading
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Steamships Trading can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Steamships Trading, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Steamships Trading
2. Improving business portfolio management of Steamships Trading
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Hotels & Motels sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Steamships Trading
Strengths of Steamships Trading | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Steamships Trading are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Steamships Trading has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Hotels & Motels industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Steamships Trading have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Steamships Trading in Hotels & Motels industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Steamships Trading in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Steamships Trading has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Steamships Trading to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Steamships Trading comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Hotels & Motels 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.
Ability to lead change in Hotels & Motels
– Steamships Trading is one of the leading players in the Hotels & Motels industry in Australia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Hotels & Motels industry in Australia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Steamships Trading in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Hotels & Motels industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Steamships Trading digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Steamships Trading 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Steamships Trading is present in almost all the verticals within the Hotels & Motels industry. This has provided Steamships Trading 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Steamships Trading 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.
Learning organization
- Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Steamships Trading emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Steamships Trading is one of the leading players in the Hotels & Motels industry in Australia. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Australia. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management in the Hotels & Motels industry
– Steamships Trading is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Steamships Trading 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 Hotels & Motels industry. The technology infrastructure of Australia 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.
Weaknesses of Steamships Trading | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Steamships Trading are -
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 Steamships Trading supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Steamships Trading is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Steamships Trading vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Steamships Trading is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Hotels & Motels industry, but Steamships Trading needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Steamships Trading to focus more on services in the Hotels & Motels industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Steamships Trading is just above the Hotels & Motels 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Steamships Trading has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Hotels & Motels industry over the last five years. Steamships Trading 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.
Skills based hiring in Hotels & Motels industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Steamships Trading 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Steamships Trading has high operating costs in the Hotels & Motels industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Steamships Trading lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Steamships Trading, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Hotels & Motels 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Steamships Trading still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Hotels & Motels industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Steamships Trading has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Australia, Steamships Trading needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Steamships Trading has some of the most successful models in the Hotels & Motels industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Steamships Trading should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Steamships Trading Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Steamships Trading are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Steamships Trading can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Steamships Trading 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Hotels & Motels industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Steamships Trading can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Steamships Trading can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Hotels & Motels 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Steamships Trading 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Steamships Trading has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Hotels & Motels industry. This can help Steamships Trading to build a more holistic ecosystem for Steamships Trading products in the Hotels & Motels industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Steamships Trading can develop new processes and procedures in Hotels & Motels 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Steamships Trading in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Hotels & Motels industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Steamships Trading 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Hotels & Motels industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Steamships Trading in the Hotels & Motels industry. Now Steamships Trading can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Steamships Trading has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Hotels & Motels sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Steamships Trading to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Steamships Trading to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Steamships Trading can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Hotels & Motels 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Steamships Trading can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Steamships Trading operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Hotels & Motels sector.
Threats Steamships Trading External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Steamships Trading are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Hotels & Motels industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Steamships Trading can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Steamships Trading needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Hotels & Motels industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Steamships Trading 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 Hotels & Motels industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Steamships Trading 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. Steamships Trading can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Hotels & Motels industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Steamships Trading has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Hotels & Motels industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Steamships Trading needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Hotels & Motels 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Steamships Trading high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Hotels & Motels industry are lowering. It can presents Steamships Trading with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Hotels & Motels sector.
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 Steamships Trading.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Steamships Trading may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Hotels & Motels 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 Steamships Trading in the Hotels & Motels 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 Steamships Trading in Hotels & Motels industry. The Hotels & Motels 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.
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 Steamships Trading business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Steamships Trading Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading 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 Steamships Trading needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.