National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for National Storage Affiliates Trust (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , National Storage Affiliates Trust is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of National Storage Affiliates Trust

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

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Strengths of National Storage Affiliates Trust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of National Storage Affiliates Trust are -

Training and development

– National Storage Affiliates Trust has one of the best training and development program in Transportation 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– National Storage Affiliates Trust is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Transportation industry. This has provided National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Ability to lead change in Misc. Transportation

– National Storage Affiliates Trust is one of the leading players in the Misc. Transportation industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Misc. Transportation industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled National Storage Affiliates Trust in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Highly skilled collaborators

– National Storage Affiliates Trust has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Transportation industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of National Storage Affiliates Trust have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Learning organization

- National Storage Affiliates Trust 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 National Storage Affiliates Trust is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at National Storage Affiliates Trust emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of National Storage Affiliates Trust comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Transportation 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.

High brand equity

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

Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Transportation industry

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– National Storage Affiliates Trust has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – National Storage Affiliates Trust staying ahead in the Misc. Transportation industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Innovation driven organization

– National Storage Affiliates Trust is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Transportation sector.

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Weaknesses of National Storage Affiliates Trust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of National Storage Affiliates Trust are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Misc. Transportation industry, National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Skills based hiring in Misc. Transportation industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that National Storage Affiliates Trust needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Transportation industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at National Storage Affiliates Trust can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as National Storage Affiliates Trust is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, National Storage Affiliates Trust has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Transportation industry over the last five years. National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at National Storage Affiliates Trust, in the dynamic environment of Misc. Transportation industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. National Storage Affiliates Trust has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Need for greater diversity

– National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of National Storage Affiliates Trust, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Misc. Transportation 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, National Storage Affiliates Trust 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 Misc. Transportation industry using digital technology.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

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

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National Storage Affiliates Trust Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of National Storage Affiliates Trust are -

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Transportation industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. National Storage Affiliates Trust 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 Misc. Transportation industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for National Storage Affiliates Trust in the Misc. Transportation industry. Now National Storage Affiliates Trust can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– National Storage Affiliates Trust can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Transportation 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Misc. Transportation industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. National Storage Affiliates Trust 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. National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Manufacturing automation

– National Storage Affiliates Trust can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Transportation 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.

Loyalty marketing

– National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

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 National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of National Storage Affiliates Trust has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Transportation industry. This can help National Storage Affiliates Trust to build a more holistic ecosystem for National Storage Affiliates Trust products in the Misc. Transportation industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at National Storage Affiliates Trust 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 Misc. Transportation industry.

Leveraging digital technologies

– National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for National Storage Affiliates Trust in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Transportation industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, National Storage Affiliates Trust can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that National Storage Affiliates Trust operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Transportation sector.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help National Storage Affiliates Trust to increase its market reach. National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

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Threats National Storage Affiliates Trust External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of National Storage Affiliates Trust are -

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 National Storage Affiliates Trust in the Misc. Transportation sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. National Storage Affiliates Trust needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Transportation industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– National Storage Affiliates Trust 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.

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 National Storage Affiliates Trust business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– National Storage Affiliates Trust has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Transportation industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, National Storage Affiliates Trust needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Transportation 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that National Storage Affiliates Trust is facing in Misc. Transportation sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Transportation industry are lowering. It can presents National Storage Affiliates Trust with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Transportation sector.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Misc. Transportation industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. National Storage Affiliates Trust 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 National Storage Affiliates Trust in Misc. Transportation industry. The Misc. Transportation 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.

Increasing wage structure of National Storage Affiliates Trust

– 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 National Storage Affiliates Trust.

Environmental challenges

– National Storage Affiliates Trust 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. National Storage Affiliates Trust can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Transportation industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, National Storage Affiliates Trust may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Transportation sector.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of National Storage Affiliates Trust Template, Example

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

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