STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources (GJP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources
2. Improving business portfolio management of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources
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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources
Strengths of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources are -
Organizational Resilience of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources has one of the best training and development program in industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is one of the leading players in the 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.
Learning organization
- STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Diverse revenue streams
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Weaknesses of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources are -
Employees’ less understanding of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Lack of clear differentiation of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is just above the 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.
Need for greater diversity
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources are -
Loyalty marketing
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can develop new processes and procedures in industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
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. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Manufacturing automation
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
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. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources to build a more holistic ecosystem for STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources to increase its market reach. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Buying journey improvements
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources in the industry. Now STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Threats STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources are -
Increasing wage structure of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources in industry. The industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources.
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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
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. STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources 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 STRATS SM Trust Dominion Resources needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.