Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR
Strengths of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR in the sector have low bargaining power. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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.
Training and development
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has one of the best training and development program in 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
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Weaknesses of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is just above the industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to increase its market reach. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can improve the customer journey of consumers in the 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR.
Regulatory challenges
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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 industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR is facing in 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 sector.
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. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR in industry. The 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR 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 industry.
Environmental challenges
– Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha 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 Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
