SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Greystone Logistics (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Greystone Logistics is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Greystone Logistics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Greystone Logistics can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greystone Logistics, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Greystone Logistics
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greystone Logistics
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 Greystone Logistics
Strengths of Greystone Logistics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Greystone Logistics are -
Ability to lead change in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber
– Greystone Logistics is one of the leading players in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Greystone Logistics in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Greystone Logistics is one of the most innovative firm in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector.
Analytics focus
– Greystone Logistics 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 Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
Training and development
– Greystone Logistics 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Greystone Logistics has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Greystone Logistics 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Greystone Logistics in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Greystone Logistics has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Greystone Logistics to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Greystone Logistics
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Greystone Logistics does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Greystone Logistics in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Greystone Logistics is one of the leading players in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Greystone Logistics 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.
Digital Transformation in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Greystone Logistics digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Greystone Logistics 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
– Greystone Logistics has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Greystone Logistics to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Greystone Logistics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Greystone Logistics are -
High dependence on Greystone Logistics ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Greystone Logistics still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Greystone Logistics has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry, Greystone Logistics 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Greystone Logistics, in the dynamic environment of Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Greystone Logistics has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Greystone Logistics 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.
Skills based hiring in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Greystone Logistics 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Greystone Logistics 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. Greystone Logistics should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Greystone Logistics has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Greystone Logistics 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Greystone Logistics is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry, but Greystone Logistics needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Greystone Logistics to focus more on services in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Greystone Logistics supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Greystone Logistics is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Greystone Logistics vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Greystone Logistics 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.
Greystone Logistics Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Greystone Logistics are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Greystone Logistics 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Greystone Logistics 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. Greystone Logistics 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
– Greystone Logistics can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Greystone Logistics 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Greystone Logistics has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Greystone Logistics to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Greystone Logistics to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Greystone Logistics has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. This can help Greystone Logistics to build a more holistic ecosystem for Greystone Logistics products in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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 Greystone Logistics 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Greystone Logistics 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Greystone Logistics 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Greystone Logistics 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Greystone Logistics 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, Greystone Logistics can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Greystone Logistics operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector.
Threats Greystone Logistics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Greystone Logistics 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Greystone Logistics in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. The Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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.
Increasing wage structure of Greystone Logistics
– 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 Greystone Logistics.
Environmental challenges
– Greystone Logistics 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. Greystone Logistics can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber 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. Greystone Logistics needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry are lowering. It can presents Greystone Logistics 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Greystone Logistics 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Greystone Logistics has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Greystone Logistics 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Greystone Logistics is facing in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics prominent markets.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Chemicals - Plastics & Rubber industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Greystone Logistics can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Greystone Logistics Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics 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 Greystone Logistics needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.