CanWel Building Materials (CWX) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for CanWel Building Materials (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , CanWel Building Materials is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CanWel Building Materials
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that CanWel Building Materials can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the CanWel Building Materials, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of CanWel Building Materials
2. Improving business portfolio management of CanWel Building Materials
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of CanWel Building Materials
Strengths of CanWel Building Materials | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of CanWel Building Materials are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– CanWel Building Materials has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. CanWel Building Materials 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– CanWel Building Materials is present in almost all the verticals within the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. This has provided CanWel Building Materials 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.
Analytics focus
– CanWel Building Materials 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 Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. The technology infrastructure of Canada 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
– CanWel Building Materials is one of the most innovative firm in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures sector.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– CanWel Building Materials has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – CanWel Building Materials staying ahead in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures 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 CanWel Building Materials 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.
High brand equity
– CanWel Building Materials has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled CanWel Building Materials to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– CanWel Building Materials is one of the leading players in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry in Canada. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Canada. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry
– CanWel Building Materials is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry
– CanWel Building Materials has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled CanWel Building Materials to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. The sustainable margins have also helped CanWel Building Materials to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– CanWel Building Materials has one of the best training and development program in Capital Goods 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of CanWel Building Materials in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. CanWel Building Materials has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps CanWel Building Materials to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of CanWel Building Materials | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of CanWel Building Materials are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
CanWel Building Materials has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ less understanding of CanWel Building Materials strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of CanWel Building Materials 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, CanWel Building Materials has high operating costs in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract CanWel Building Materials lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of CanWel Building Materials is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry, but CanWel Building Materials needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help CanWel Building Materials to focus more on services in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Canada, CanWel Building Materials needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, CanWel Building Materials needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, CanWel Building Materials is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help CanWel Building Materials to provide better information regarding Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though CanWel Building Materials has some of the most successful models in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at CanWel Building Materials can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as CanWel Building Materials is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at CanWel Building Materials 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.
CanWel Building Materials Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of CanWel Building Materials are -
Manufacturing automation
– CanWel Building Materials can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, CanWel Building Materials can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that CanWel Building Materials operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. CanWel Building Materials can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for CanWel Building Materials in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. Now CanWel Building Materials can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– CanWel Building Materials 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 CanWel Building Materials 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
– CanWel Building Materials has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled CanWel Building Materials to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help CanWel Building Materials to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, CanWel Building Materials 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for CanWel Building Materials 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.
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. CanWel Building Materials can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– CanWel Building Materials 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.
Threats CanWel Building Materials External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of CanWel Building Materials are -
Regulatory challenges
– CanWel Building Materials 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 Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. CanWel Building Materials can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. CanWel Building Materials needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– CanWel Building Materials has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, CanWel Building Materials needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry are lowering. It can presents CanWel Building Materials with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures sector.
Environmental challenges
– CanWel Building Materials 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. CanWel Building Materials can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of CanWel Building Materials
– 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 CanWel Building Materials.
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 CanWel Building Materials.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that CanWel Building Materials is facing in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 CanWel Building Materials business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for CanWel Building Materials in Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures industry. The Constr. - Supplies & Fixtures 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of CanWel Building Materials Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials 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 CanWel Building Materials needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
