Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jd.Com Inc Adr is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jd.Com Inc Adr can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jd.Com Inc Adr, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jd.Com Inc Adr
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jd.Com Inc Adr
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jd.Com Inc Adr
Strengths of Jd.Com Inc Adr | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jd.Com Inc Adr are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Training and development
– Jd.Com Inc Adr has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Jd.Com Inc Adr is one of the most innovative firm in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) sector.
Organizational Resilience of Jd.Com Inc Adr
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Jd.Com Inc Adr does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order)
– Jd.Com Inc Adr is one of the leading players in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jd.Com Inc Adr is one of the leading players in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jd.Com Inc Adr has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jd.Com Inc Adr has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Jd.Com Inc Adr have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jd.Com Inc Adr in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Jd.Com Inc Adr has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jd.Com Inc Adr to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Jd.Com Inc Adr has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jd.Com Inc Adr to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Jd.Com Inc Adr | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jd.Com Inc Adr are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry, Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Jd.Com Inc Adr has high operating costs in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Jd.Com Inc Adr lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jd.Com Inc Adr has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jd.Com Inc Adr has some of the most successful models in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Jd.Com Inc Adr should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry using digital technology.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Jd.Com Inc Adr, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Skills based hiring in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Jd.Com Inc Adr strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Jd.Com Inc Adr, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jd.Com Inc Adr has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Jd.Com Inc Adr Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jd.Com Inc Adr are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jd.Com Inc Adr to increase its market reach. Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jd.Com Inc Adr can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Jd.Com Inc Adr can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jd.Com Inc Adr is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jd.Com Inc Adr can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jd.Com Inc Adr 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. Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Jd.Com Inc Adr in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. Now Jd.Com Inc Adr can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jd.Com Inc Adr can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jd.Com Inc Adr operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jd.Com Inc Adr has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. This can help Jd.Com Inc Adr to build a more holistic ecosystem for Jd.Com Inc Adr products in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Jd.Com Inc Adr External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jd.Com Inc Adr are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jd.Com Inc Adr has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jd.Com Inc Adr needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) 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.
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. Jd.Com Inc Adr needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry. The Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) 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.
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 Jd.Com Inc Adr in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Increasing wage structure of Jd.Com Inc Adr
– 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr.
Environmental challenges
– Jd.Com Inc Adr 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. Jd.Com Inc Adr can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jd.Com Inc Adr 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jd.Com Inc Adr can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Jd.Com Inc Adr may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Retail (Catalog & Mail Order) sector.
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 Jd.Com Inc Adr.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jd.Com Inc Adr Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr 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 Jd.Com Inc Adr needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.