Global Techs (GTLL) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Global Techs (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Global Techs is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Global Techs

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Global Techs can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Global Techs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Global Techs 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Global Techs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Global Techs
2. Improving business portfolio management of Global Techs
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Computer Hardware sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Global Techs

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Strengths of Global Techs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Global Techs are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Global Techs is one of the leading players in the Computer Hardware 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Global Techs 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Global Techs in Computer Hardware industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Global Techs has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Computer Hardware industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Global Techs have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Hardware industry

– Global Techs has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Global Techs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Computer Hardware industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Global Techs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Computer Hardware industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Global Techs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Global Techs 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

– Global Techs has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Global Techs to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Global Techs comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Computer Hardware 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Global Techs in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Global Techs has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Global Techs to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Strong track record of project management in the Computer Hardware industry

– Global Techs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Learning organization

- Global Techs 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 Global Techs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Global Techs emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Global Techs has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Global Techs 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.

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Weaknesses of Global Techs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Global Techs are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of United States, Global Techs needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Computer Hardware industry, Global Techs 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.

Employees’ less understanding of Global Techs strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Global Techs 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Computer Hardware industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Global Techs 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 Computer Hardware industry.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Global Techs has some of the most successful models in the Computer Hardware industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Global Techs should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Lack of clear differentiation of Global Techs products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Global Techs needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Global Techs has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Computer Hardware industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Global Techs is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Global Techs to provide better information regarding Computer Hardware products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Global Techs has high operating costs in the Computer Hardware industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Global Techs lucrative customers.

Need for greater diversity

– Global Techs 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Global Techs has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Computer Hardware industry over the last five years. Global Techs 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.

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Global Techs Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Global Techs are -

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Computer Hardware industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Global Techs can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Global Techs to increase its market reach. Global Techs 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.

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 Global Techs 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Global Techs has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Computer Hardware sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Global Techs to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Global Techs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Global Techs can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Computer Hardware industry.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Global Techs can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Global Techs operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Computer Hardware sector.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Global Techs in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Computer Hardware industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Global Techs 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Computer Hardware industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Global Techs in the Computer Hardware industry. Now Global Techs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Global Techs has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Computer Hardware industry. This can help Global Techs to build a more holistic ecosystem for Global Techs products in the Computer Hardware industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Global Techs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Loyalty marketing

– Global Techs 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 Global Techs 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.

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Threats Global Techs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Global Techs are -

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. Global Techs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Hardware industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Global Techs may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Computer Hardware sector.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Computer Hardware industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Global Techs can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Global Techs 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 Computer Hardware industry.

Increasing wage structure of Global Techs

– 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 Global Techs.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Global Techs 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Global Techs 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 Computer Hardware industry regulations.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Global Techs is facing in Computer Hardware sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Computer Hardware industry are lowering. It can presents Global Techs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Computer Hardware sector.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Global Techs has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Hardware industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Global Techs needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer Hardware 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Global Techs in Computer Hardware industry. The Computer Hardware 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.

Environmental challenges

– Global Techs 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. Global Techs can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Computer Hardware industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Global Techs Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Global Techs 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 Global Techs 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 Global Techs 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 Global Techs 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 Global Techs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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