Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , GasLog Ltd Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that GasLog Ltd Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the GasLog Ltd Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of GasLog Ltd Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of GasLog Ltd Pref
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Water Transportation sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of GasLog Ltd Pref
Strengths of GasLog Ltd Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of GasLog Ltd Pref are -
Ability to lead change in Water Transportation
– GasLog Ltd Pref is one of the leading players in the Water Transportation industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Water Transportation industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled GasLog Ltd Pref in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of GasLog Ltd Pref in Water Transportation industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– GasLog Ltd Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. GasLog Ltd 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
– GasLog Ltd 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 Water Transportation 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.
Innovation driven organization
– GasLog Ltd Pref is one of the most innovative firm in Water Transportation sector.
Learning organization
- GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd Pref is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at GasLog Ltd Pref emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Water Transportation industry
– GasLog Ltd 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the GasLog Ltd Pref are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of GasLog Ltd Pref in the Transportation sector have low bargaining power. GasLog Ltd Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps GasLog Ltd Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– GasLog Ltd Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled GasLog Ltd Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– GasLog Ltd Pref has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Water Transportation industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of GasLog Ltd Pref have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that GasLog Ltd 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.
Weaknesses of GasLog Ltd Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GasLog Ltd Pref are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, GasLog Ltd Pref has high operating costs in the Water Transportation industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract GasLog Ltd Pref lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Water Transportation industry, GasLog Ltd 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.
Skills based hiring in Water Transportation industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at GasLog Ltd Pref has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, GasLog Ltd Pref needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– GasLog Ltd Pref 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of GasLog Ltd Pref products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, GasLog Ltd Pref needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of GasLog Ltd Pref is just above the Water Transportation 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
GasLog Ltd Pref has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Water Transportation industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on GasLog Ltd Pref ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of GasLog Ltd Pref still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Water Transportation industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though GasLog Ltd Pref has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of GasLog Ltd Pref is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Water Transportation industry, but GasLog Ltd Pref needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help GasLog Ltd Pref to focus more on services in the Water Transportation industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, GasLog Ltd Pref is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help GasLog Ltd Pref to provide better information regarding Water Transportation products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
GasLog Ltd Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of GasLog Ltd Pref are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, GasLog Ltd 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.
Manufacturing automation
– GasLog Ltd Pref can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Water Transportation 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, GasLog Ltd Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GasLog Ltd Pref can utilize new technology in the field of Water Transportation industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of GasLog Ltd Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Water Transportation industry. This can help GasLog Ltd Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for GasLog Ltd Pref products in the Water Transportation industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for GasLog Ltd 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 Water Transportation industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. GasLog Ltd Pref can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– GasLog Ltd Pref has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for GasLog Ltd 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.
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 GasLog Ltd Pref to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, GasLog Ltd Pref can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help GasLog Ltd Pref to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Water Transportation industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for GasLog Ltd Pref in the Water Transportation industry. Now GasLog Ltd Pref can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– GasLog Ltd Pref has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Water Transportation sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled GasLog Ltd Pref to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help GasLog Ltd Pref to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats GasLog Ltd Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of GasLog Ltd Pref are -
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 GasLog Ltd Pref.
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 GasLog Ltd Pref in the Water Transportation sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Water Transportation industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. GasLog Ltd Pref can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– GasLog Ltd 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. GasLog Ltd Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Water Transportation industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, GasLog Ltd Pref can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate GasLog Ltd Pref prominent markets.
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 GasLog Ltd Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– GasLog Ltd Pref can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the Water Transportation industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, GasLog Ltd 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 Water Transportation sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Water Transportation industry are lowering. It can presents GasLog Ltd Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Water Transportation sector.
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. GasLog Ltd Pref needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Transportation industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that GasLog Ltd Pref is facing in Water Transportation sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of GasLog Ltd Pref
– 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 GasLog Ltd Pref.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GasLog Ltd Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd 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 GasLog Ltd Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.