Good Vibrations Shoes (GVSI) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Good Vibrations Shoes (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Good Vibrations Shoes is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Good Vibrations Shoes

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Good Vibrations Shoes can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Good Vibrations Shoes, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Good Vibrations Shoes can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Good Vibrations Shoes
2. Improving business portfolio management of Good Vibrations Shoes
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Good Vibrations Shoes

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Strengths of Good Vibrations Shoes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Good Vibrations Shoes are -

High brand equity

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Good Vibrations Shoes has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Good Vibrations Shoes staying ahead in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Good Vibrations Shoes is present in almost all the verticals within the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This has provided Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Learning organization

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

Organizational Resilience of Good Vibrations Shoes

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Good Vibrations Shoes 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

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry

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

Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry

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

Innovation driven organization

– Good Vibrations Shoes is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Strong track record of project management in the Chemical Manufacturing industry

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

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Weaknesses of Good Vibrations Shoes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Good Vibrations Shoes are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Good Vibrations Shoes products

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

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Good Vibrations Shoes is just above the Chemical Manufacturing 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.

Employees’ less understanding of Good Vibrations Shoes strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Good Vibrations Shoes 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Good Vibrations Shoes has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Chemical Manufacturing 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Good Vibrations Shoes has high operating costs in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Good Vibrations Shoes lucrative customers.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Good Vibrations Shoes is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, but Good Vibrations Shoes needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Good Vibrations Shoes to focus more on services in the Chemical Manufacturing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Good Vibrations Shoes 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, Good Vibrations Shoes is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Good Vibrations Shoes to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemical Manufacturing industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.

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 Good Vibrations Shoes supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Good Vibrations Shoes is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Good Vibrations Shoes vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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Good Vibrations Shoes Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Good Vibrations Shoes are -

Increase in government spending

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

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Good Vibrations Shoes can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Good Vibrations Shoes can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Developing new processes and practices

– Good Vibrations Shoes can develop new processes and procedures in Chemical Manufacturing 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Good Vibrations Shoes is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Good Vibrations Shoes can utilize new technology in the field of Chemical Manufacturing industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Good Vibrations Shoes has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemical Manufacturing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Good Vibrations Shoes to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Good Vibrations Shoes to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Good Vibrations Shoes has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can help Good Vibrations Shoes to build a more holistic ecosystem for Good Vibrations Shoes products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– Good Vibrations Shoes can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Chemical Manufacturing 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

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Threats Good Vibrations Shoes External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Good Vibrations Shoes are -

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. Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

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 Good Vibrations Shoes in the Chemical Manufacturing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Increasing wage structure of Good Vibrations Shoes

– 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 Good Vibrations Shoes.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Good Vibrations Shoes is facing in Chemical Manufacturing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Good Vibrations Shoes 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. Good Vibrations Shoes can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Good Vibrations Shoes 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Good Vibrations Shoes prominent markets.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Good Vibrations Shoes 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.

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.

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 Good Vibrations Shoes business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 Good Vibrations Shoes.

Easy access to finance

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

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Good Vibrations Shoes in Chemical Manufacturing industry. The Chemical Manufacturing 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Good Vibrations Shoes Template, Example

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

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