Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bravo Enterprises Lt is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bravo Enterprises Lt
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bravo Enterprises Lt can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bravo Enterprises Lt, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bravo Enterprises Lt
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bravo Enterprises Lt
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Constr. & Agric. Machinery sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bravo Enterprises Lt
Strengths of Bravo Enterprises Lt | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bravo Enterprises Lt are -
Learning organization
- Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Bravo Enterprises Lt emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Bravo Enterprises Lt is one of the most innovative firm in Constr. & Agric. Machinery sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bravo Enterprises Lt has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Analytics focus
– Bravo Enterprises Lt 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. & Agric. Machinery 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry
– Bravo Enterprises Lt is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bravo Enterprises Lt is present in almost all the verticals within the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. This has provided Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 recruit top talent
– Bravo Enterprises Lt is one of the leading players in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bravo Enterprises Lt has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Bravo Enterprises Lt have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bravo Enterprises Lt in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. Bravo Enterprises Lt has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bravo Enterprises Lt to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bravo Enterprises Lt has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Bravo Enterprises Lt staying ahead in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Bravo Enterprises Lt comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Weaknesses of Bravo Enterprises Lt | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bravo Enterprises Lt are -
Skills based hiring in Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Bravo Enterprises Lt, in the dynamic environment of Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bravo Enterprises Lt has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on Bravo Enterprises Lt ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Bravo Enterprises Lt still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Bravo Enterprises Lt has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry, Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry.
Employees’ less understanding of Bravo Enterprises Lt strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bravo Enterprises Lt is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry, but Bravo Enterprises Lt needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bravo Enterprises Lt to focus more on services in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Bravo Enterprises Lt is just above the Constr. & Agric. Machinery 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Bravo Enterprises Lt has high operating costs in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Bravo Enterprises Lt lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bravo Enterprises Lt has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Bravo Enterprises Lt Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bravo Enterprises Lt are -
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bravo Enterprises Lt in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. Now Bravo Enterprises Lt can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bravo Enterprises Lt is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bravo Enterprises Lt can utilize new technology in the field of Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bravo Enterprises Lt can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bravo Enterprises Lt operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Constr. & Agric. Machinery sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bravo Enterprises Lt has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Constr. & Agric. Machinery sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Bravo Enterprises Lt to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bravo Enterprises Lt to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bravo Enterprises Lt 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. Bravo Enterprises Lt 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
– Bravo Enterprises Lt can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Constr. & Agric. Machinery 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bravo Enterprises Lt in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bravo Enterprises Lt to increase its market reach. Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Threats Bravo Enterprises Lt External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bravo Enterprises Lt are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt prominent markets.
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. Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
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 Bravo Enterprises Lt business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Bravo Enterprises Lt 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. Bravo Enterprises Lt can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bravo Enterprises Lt 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bravo Enterprises Lt is facing in Constr. & Agric. Machinery sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bravo Enterprises Lt can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Bravo Enterprises Lt 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. & Agric. Machinery industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry.
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. Bravo Enterprises Lt needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Bravo Enterprises Lt in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bravo Enterprises Lt has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bravo Enterprises Lt needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Constr. & Agric. Machinery 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bravo Enterprises Lt Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt 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 Bravo Enterprises Lt needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.